


Every Other Freckle

by bonsaiScribbler



Category: SEVENTEEN (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Angst, Emotional/Psychological Abuse, M/M, Manipulation, Miscommunication, Obsession, Unhealthy Relationships
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-16
Updated: 2020-08-27
Packaged: 2021-03-04 01:06:58
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 38,802
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24755236
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bonsaiScribbler/pseuds/bonsaiScribbler
Summary: “Jeonghan is an amazing teacher.”“He is, isn't he?” The pride is as obvious as Seungcheol's arm slipping casually over Jeonghan's shoulder.They're not dating. But the way Jeonghan looks at Seungcheol makes Minhyung's insides twist with something akin to jealousy. He knows that if it wasn't for Seungcheol, he'd have a chance. Why else would Jeonghan be willing to spend so much time with him?“Hey, are you done for today?” Seungcheol interrupts again, and Minhyung wants to scratch that stupid grin off his face. “Shua has been waiting for a while.”“Not yet. Give us a bit.”
Relationships: Choi Seungcheol | S.Coups/Yoon Jeonghan, Hong Jisoo | Joshua & Yoon Jeonghan, Yoon Jeonghan/Original Male Character(s)
Comments: 14
Kudos: 68





	1. Chapter 1

Whoever said that all people are equal is an absolute idiot, in his humble opinion.

There are people like him, and then there are people like Yoon Jeonghan... and then there are people like Choi Seungcheol. For reasons beyond his comprehension Jeonghan actually seemed to like the big, dumb Seungcheol. For reasons beyond his comprehension Jeonghan liked to hang out with the idiot. For reasons beyond his comprehension Choi Seungcheol got to casually make out with the beautiful, stunning Yoon Jeonghan.

Everyone knows they are not dating. Everyone also knows that they are more than just friends.

It just isn't fair.

It's been less than a year, that he'd met the most beautiful person he'd ever seen. Sure, there were many stunning people in university, all living in their own little cliques, that no outsider could ever touch. But none of them as beautiful as Yoon Jeonghan, with his delicate cheekbones, long hair, soft skin, and the most stunning smile in the entire world.

“Are you listening?“ Startled, he snaps back into reality, stops staring at Jeonghan's pink lips and tries to focus on his doe eyes instead.  
“I'm sorry. I just don't get it.“ he apologizes, and Jeonghan gives a small nod, not looking disappointed, but he feels as if he'd just let him down.

“It's fine. No one likes chemistry.“ And the stunning smile is back. Jeonghan's patience is admirable, even though he has to explain the same thing again. “We'll just try again, ok Minhyung?“

“Yes. Yes, please.“ His enthusiasm draws another smile from Jeonghan, and for a second, time stops again. This can't be good for his heart.

“Alright. Come here.“ Their shoulders touch when Jeonghan leans close, his hair falling like a soft curtain between them, and Minhyung wants to reach out and brush it back.

This lesson, like all others, will yield little results. But Jeonghan has been nothing but patient, and willing to tutor him again and again. He knows that the professor asked Jeonghan to help him out, but Jeonghan didn't have to do it. He could have just said no. But he didn't.  
So, like every Friday, they sit together after the lecture, going over the material again and again. Minhyung knows that he should have no problem with the topics, and truthfully, he doesn't – not anymore – but he'd rather pretend to be the dumbest person in the world than not to spend time with Jeonghan.

Sometimes he dreams of reaching out, pulling Jeonghan in his lap, and kissing him until they are both breathless. He imagines Jeonghan melting against him, pliant, happy and in love. More often than not his dreams turn less than innocent – more often than not about being alone in the library after hours, and Jeonghan in various states of undress – and it's a small miracle he can even look at Jeonghan.

He takes a deep breath and slowly lifts his hand to reach out and finally brush away that luscious hair.

“Jeonghan!” His hand is inches away from Jeonghan's hair. His stomach gives a little twinge when he realizes who just found them in the library. “Minhyung. Hi.”

Choi Seungcheol with his stupid grin and muscles.

He sneaks a peek at Jeonghan, and of course, he's staring at Seungcheol with that stunning smile of his.

“Hi Seungcheol. Done with practice?” It's obvious that Seungcheol is done with practice, cheeks still flushed, looking sweaty. The least he could have done was take a shower before he'd come to interrupt their lesson.

“Yeah. It was great. How's the lesson going?” Seungcheol asks, oblivious to Minhyung's silent distaste. He grabs a chair from the next table over and pulls it next to Jeonghan. Within the blink of an eye, Jeonghan has gone from leaning against Minhyung to leaning against Seungcheol.

He's not jealous. Not one bit.

Except that he is. Jeonghan always took his time to go over their lessons, allowing Minhyung to ask the same questions again and again; sometimes even bringing snacks to share.

“Ah, well... not that great.” It's not quite a lie. “But Jeonghan is an amazing teacher.”

“He is, isn't he?” The pride is as obvious as Seungcheol's arm slipping casually over Jeonghan's shoulder.

They're not dating. But the way Jeonghan looks at Seungcheol makes Minhyung's insides twist with something akin to jealousy. He knows that if it wasn't for Seungcheol, he'd have a chance. Why else would Jeonghan be willing to spend so much time with him?

“Hey, are you done for today?” Seungcheol interrupts again, and Minhyung wants to scratch that stupid grin off his face. “Shua has been waiting for a while.”

“Not yet. Give us a bit.”

~

“You're underestimating yourself.” Jeonghan had said during their fifth study session. “You're so much better than you think.”

It was then and there that he'd become convinced that Jeonghan was the only one for him. Before he'd harbored a crush, maybe a bad case of infatuation, and getting close to Jeonghan had been enough. After Jeonghan had said those words he understood that Jeonghan saw him. That Jeonghan is The One.

As much as he hates his sister's cheesy novels and chick flicks, he's come to relate to the poor guy getting a bad case of the nerves whenever he encounters his love interest.  
While he may not be as bad as that, he certainly becomes a whole lot less suave and more of a klutz when Jeonhan is around.

“How was your weekend?” He greets Jeonghan, and is proud that – unlike their first few encounters – he neither fumbles nor stutters.

“Had to babysit my friends when they went out to drink.” Jeonghan lightly replies, falling into step with Minhyung. He's only a little bit smaller than Minhyung, but it's enough to make Minhyung want to put his arm protectively around Jeonhan's shoulder.

“Not a fan of drinking? Or babysitting?” Minhyung wants to know, mentally preparing himself to cross wine from his list of potential gifts.

“I'm fine with either.” Jeonhan replies. “But I prefer not to be the designated driver.”

Wine is still on the list. It'd have been a shame if Jeonghan didn't like to drink, but for him Minhyung would have given up on it.

“Especially when Mingyu and Seungcheol get drunk together...” Jeonghan trails off, then starts a little tale about the trouble his friends get into when they are drunk. Minhyung almost feels like he's part of their group.

As they make their way to their usual study spot in the library, Minhyung spots Seungcheol and another kid from one of the social studies classes at a table near theirs

It can't be a coincidence.

“Hey Hannie.” Seungcheol's voice is already grating on Minhyung's nerves.

“Hi Cheollie. Hi Hansol.” Despite the very obvious attempt from Seungcheol to get them to sit at their table, Jeonghan steers Minhyung to their usual study spot.

“No distractions. The professor hinted at a pop quiz next week.” Jeonghan explains and grins at Minhyung's flabbergasted expression. “You didn't notice?”

Beautiful and smart. And apparently very attentive.

Jeonghan must have taken his silence as shock, because he starts to reassure him that he will be fine. Out of the corner of his eye he can see Seungcheol's expression turn sour, and he internally gloats just a little bit. Serves him right for always trying to get between them.  
During their entire study session he can feel Seungcheol burning holes into him. Just to spite him, Minhyung makes sure to be as close as possible to Jeonghan. When he glances at the other table Seungcheol's face is stony, and Hansol looks resigned.

“Okay, I think we got it down.” Jeonghan exclaims after an excruciating two hours of being so close to Jeonghan but feeling Seungcheol's constant jealousy.

Almost immediately Seungcheol swoops in, utters a goodbye to Minhyung, and almost drags Jeonghan out of the library with them.

What an absolute asshole.

~

It will always remain a mystery to him how someone like Yoon Jeonghan can be friends with Choi Seungcheol.

They are both good looking and run with the same circle of friends. That’s where the similarities end.  
Jeonghan has plans to work in the pharmaceutical industry, and develop vaccines that will save people’s lives. And Seungcheol? Well, he has no idea what Seungcheol’s plans for the future are. Unlike Minhyung he has a nice, cushy family fortune to fall back on, and his family seems to be willing to let their son waste his time with social studies and sports.  
At some point Jeonghan might have mentioned that Seungcheol plans to become a physical therapist for children with disabilities when he feels like he’s ready to take on those studies - but Minhyung knows that Seungcheol just said that to impress Jeonghan.

Rumors say that those two are actually childhood friends that lost touch for a while when Jeonghan’s family moved to America for a job opportunity.  
A girl in his physics class claims that Jeonghan met Joshua during that time and when they came back to Korea, Seungcheol had been green with jealousy.  
Some others say that they always stayed in touch through long distance phone calls and rare visits during holidays.

Minhyung can easily imagine poor Jeonghan being roped into needlessly long phone calls.

Regardless of all the rumors, it’s a fact that Jeonghan and Seungcheol are close. And that Seungcheol keeps trying to get between Minhyung and Jeonghan.

As if Jeonghan was a possession of his and Seungcheol was unwilling to share.

Nevermind that Jeonghan had accepted to tutor him.

Choi Seungcheol just can’t keep his claws out of Jeonghan.

“Oppa?” The curious voice of his sister snaps him back to reality. “Is that him?”

Her finger points right at Jeonghan who's currently wiping his neck with a towel while keeping a watchful eye on his opponent. His tennis gear makes him look like he stepped out of a sports magazine.

“Yeah.” His throat is dry all of a sudden, his eyes glued to the little drops of sweat running down Jeonghan's temple. At least he can blame the summer heat for the sudden blush on his face.

“He's very handsome.” His sister notes with a big grin. “I can see why you like him.”

“Ssh!” He shushes her. Close to slapping his hand over her mouth.

It had been her idea to meet him at his university to finally get a good look at his 'embarrassing crush he won't shut up about'. On that day they had no class together, so his sister wanted to see if they could casually bump into Jeonghan on campus. Needless to say they had gotten a bit off-track with his sister's natural curiosity leading them to explore the campus. By some sort of divine intervention – he loves Minyoung, but his feet were starting to hurt – they ended up at the tennis courts where Jeonghan had been practicing with a friend.

Luckily another student had challenged him to a game.

A game that started a good hour ago, and seems to be endless. The great part is that he gets to watch Jeonghan run around court, looking every bit like one of his dreams come to life. The worrying part is that Jeonghan has low stamina and that he must already be exhausted. He'd love nothing more to head over to Jeonghan and offer his support, but he doesn't want to intrude and seem like some sort of creep.

“Is that your rival?” Minyoung wants to know. And sure enough, she's pointing at Seungcheol who is approaching Jeonghan with a bottle of water and one of their friends in tow.

“Don't call him that.” he sighs. If only he'd kept his mouth shut and never told her about Jeonghan.

“They look nice together.” The sly grin on Minyoung's face makes the muscles in his jaw twitch.

Why does he even bother with her?

“You know,” she continues. “You're not too ugly yourself.”

Oh? Hear, hear. He might have to whip out his phone to record this conversation.

“If you play your cards right, you might even have a chance.”

Of course he does. Why else would Jeonghan bother tutoring him every week? It has to mean something, right? It has to.

“If only Seungcheo stopped interrupting every single study session.” Minhyung mumbles bitterly, but his little sister catches his words anyway.

“So what? Be smart. Wait and see, and then approach him.” Easy for her to say when she doesn't have to watch Seungcheol swoop in again and again, ruining his alone time with Jeonghan. “And if all else fails, just cause some conflict between them.”

“What?”

“Oh, come on. Have you never seen a romance movie?” His sister does like to make him feel stupid, and the exasperation in her voice just amplifies it.

“You've made me watch so many chick flicks.” he scoffs. “Which one are you talking about?”

“Protagonist is hopelessly in love with love interest, but love interest is with someone else.” She ticks off the points with her finders. “They have a falling out and protagonist stays by love interest's side until love interest realizes that protagonist was her true love all along.”

Watching Jeonghan talk to Seungcheol and happily accept the offered water and snacks, makes it difficult for Minyung to believe that they will ever have a fallout. Jeonghan is too kind and too easily manipulated by Seungcheol.

“Just wait, ok?” his sister encourages him. “If you're really meant for each other, he'll realize it's you.”

They are meant for each other. He has no doubt about it.

But what could ever happen to cause a fallout between them?

~

The little chime has started a Pavlovian reflex inside of him. Anger bubbles deep inside his gut every time he hears it, and he wants to grab the phone and smash it into a million little pieces until he never has to hear that chime again.

Simultaneously, he loves the way Jeonghan's eyes light up when he hears that chime, and Minhyung wants to stare at him for all eternity.

Be smart, his sister had said. Wait and see.

Smart, he can do. Waiting, he's done. He even figured out a way to approach him, but every single time he feels like he can take another step Choi Seungcheol finds a way to interrupt him. Always with that smug look on his face when Jeonghan fawns over him.

So he has to be smarter.

The opportunity arises when Jeonghan gets called to their professor's study room in the library during their session. Of course, not even five minutes after Jeonghan leaves his phone chimes and Minhyung can see Seungcheol's name pop up.

He shouldn't. But he needs to be smart.

After a careful glance around he slips the phone into his sleeve. When he is certain that no one noticed what he did, he sneaks the phone back into his hand.

He's watched Jeonghan's graceful fingers enter the passcode many times, so he knows the code.

Be smart.

Don't leave traces. But what to do? For now he'll have to keep the phone on silent, quickly changing the settings.

Another glance around that Jeonghan is still caught up in his talk with their professor.

It's too easy to slide the phone into his bag, and hide it between his books. But Jeonghan will definitely notice that it's gone.

And as expected, his clever Jeonghan notices almost immediately that his phone is missing. Minhyung sees his eyes flit over the table, silently searching.

“Is something the matter?” he asks Jeonghan, trying his best to put up an innocent front.

He can't arouse suspicion. Jeonghan would never forgive him.

“Ah, no. It's nothing.” Jeonghan's smile is fake and it hurts Minhyung only a little bit. After all it's for the best, and Jeonghan will understand eventually.

They fall back into their routine. Minyhung asking unnecessary questions, and Jeonghan answering patiently. Occasionally his eyes sweep across the table, a quick frown marring his lovely features before Minhyung can distract him again.

“What's wrong? Something is obviously bothering you.” Minyhung says after thirty minutes have passed. Be gentle, he reminds himself, be clueless.

“I can't find my phone.” Stress should not look good on anyone, but Jeonghan somehow manages to look stunning as he runs his hands through his hair.

“Didn't you take it with you?” If the phone in his bag hadn't been on silent, it'd have been chiming loudly for his lies by now.

“I don't think so.” Jeonghan says, but looks just a little bit uncertain. “Did I?”

“You didn't? I could have sworn you did.”

“I'm just going to take a quick look, ok?” The phone won't be there, and he feels slightly bad for Jeonghan, but he's so tired of Seungcheol bothering them.

“Sure. Go ahead.” Sweat beads down his neck as he watches Jeonghan make his way to their professor, and then search around his study.

His downtrodden look when he returns is heartbreaking, and guilt makes Minhyung feel sick in his stomach.

“No luck?”

“No.” The upset little voice makes it even worse.

“How about we stop here, and take a look around?” He should just admit it and return the phone, but the grateful look on Jeonghan's face makes everything worth it. In a few years they will look back and laugh at his idiocy.

“You don't mind?” Not if it means spending more time with you, Minhyung wants to say, but has enough common sense to hold his tongue.

“Nah. You've been helping me so much, it's the least I can do.” He needs to come up with a plan to find Jeonghan's phone, and he needs to do it fast.

They trace Jeonghan's steps back to their professor's study room, and then back to their library table. After a few minutes of fruitless searching they agree to split up, and Minhyung plans to subtly find the phone near a library cart.

But how will he explain that Jeonghan's phone has been set to silent?

A quick glance towards Jeonghan shows the other just engrossed in his search enough for Minhyung to sneak the phone out of his bag and peek at the screen.

There are so many messages and missed calls from Seungcheol that he wants to hurl the phone across the room.

If only the damn thing was broken.

If only.

Be smart.

Oh. That'd be the perfect explanation.

“Any luck?” He asks, voice just loud enough to carry through the hall, but not for their almost deaf librarian to hear.

“No.” Minhyung needs to find a way to break the phone fast. “I'm going to see if some of the others are around and can help us.”

“Good idea.”

On the one hand that gives him a chance to get rid of the phone, on the other he really, really doesn't want anyone else to help, since they might catch on to his doing.

The minute the door closes behind Jeonghan, Minhyung makes his way to the toilet room. Not so fast as to arouse suspicion from the librarian who is sitting en route.

Once inside he makes his way into the stall furthest away from the door. There's no one else around, but he still holds his breath as he closes the toilet lid and climbs on top of it.  
The sound of the phone hitting the floor is earth-shattering in this silence. With bated breath Minhyung waits for someone to bust down the door, but when no one does, he climbs back down and gingerly picks up the phone.

It looks fine besides the spider web crawling across the upper right part of the screen. When he presses the home button, the phone doesn't light up. It simply remains black. Dead in his hand.

He needs to hurry.

The librarian doesn't spare him a second glance when he walks past her.

Near the professor's research room is a library cart, perfectly along the way that Jeonghan used. Jeonghan still isn't back, so he carefully drops the phone behind one of the wheels of the cart.

He makes sure to be in the librarian's view when he returns to their study spot. He starts rummaging around the table again, making sure that the librarian takes a look at him. And not a moment too soon.

The door slides open and Jeonghan walk inside; followed by Jeonghan's best friend Joshua, a small boy Minyhgun recognizes as Jihoon from the musical theory class, and of course, Choi Seungcheol.

“Hey. Thanks for helping out.” Seungcheol says, in a way that sounds like they are searching for his phone instead of Jeonghan's.

“No problem.” Minhyung replies, aiming for casual, and surprisingly, not failing horribly.

Once again they split up. Joshua and Jihoon search the area around their study spot, while Minhyung gets to search with Jeonghan – and Seungcheol.  
Seungcheol keeps asking all these questions like “Where did you last see it?”, “Are you sure no one took it?” and so on. And Minhyung could swear that Seungcheol's been looking at him. The implications make Minhyung bristle, but Jeonghan is absolutely certain that no one stole his phone, and his trust in Minhyung is enough to swallow down his anger and fake friendliness.

Eventually they part ways: Seungcheol decides to search near the rows of shelves leading up to the study room, Jeonghan goes to check inside the study room again, and Minhyung wanders aimlessly up and down the path between their study spot and the professor's study room.  
Occasionally one of them will ask the others about their progress – and the phone behind the wheel of the library cart is burning in his mind.

It's a small miracle that no one has spotted it yet and he is tempted to happen to find it. Considering Seungcheol's implications however, he'd rather wait and see. Even if he has to deal with Seungcheol's presence and Jeonghan's increasingly hopeless look.

It's a relief when Seungcheol of all people finally finds it.

“Oh, I think it's broken.” Seungcheol exclaims as they gather around to inspect the phone. “It must have slipped from your pocket,”

“Really?” With swift fingers Joshua grabs the phone from Seungcheol and starts fiddling with it. No matter what he tries, the phone remains dead.

“We should take it to the store to see if they can get it fixed.” Seungcheol suggests, grabbing the phone back from Joshua and slipping it into his bag as if it belonged to him.

“Okay...” Jeonghan looks less than hopeful, and while Minhyung is really tired of Seungcheol's constant interruptions and attempts to hog Jeonghan's attention, he doesn't want Jeonghan upset.

“If they can't fix it... My sister is great with computers and stuff,” Minhyung volunteers. “Maybe she can figure things out.”

“Thank you. I'll definitely get back to you, if they can't figure it out.”

A part of him really wants to get his hands on Jeonghan's phone again. His sister would undoubtedly be able to fix Jeonghan's phone. He can already imagine a happy, grateful Jeonghan showing him his appreciation.

Never mind that this would get him a few days with Jeonghan's phone. Maybe he had some cute selcas that Minhyung could save on his computer. And maybe even take a look why Seungcheol constantly bothers Jeonghan.  
Never mind that he's the one who broke it in the first place.

Something is odd about the expression on Seungcheol's face, as he helps Jeonghan gather his belongings, and leads him through the door with a quick goodbye.

“Hey Minhyung.” Joshua says as he and Jihoon approach Minhyung to help him pack up his things. “It was nice of you to stick around and help out.”

“It's nothing.” He hopes that Joshua isn't going to ask questions the way Seungcheol did. He's had enough of people's assumptions about him.

“Jeonghan mentioned you before.” Joshua continues, and Minhyung's stomach does a little flip of happiness that Jeonghan talks to his friends about him. “I'm not great at Chemistry either, but Jeonghan is a good teacher.”

Good? The best.

“He's very patient. I suck so bad, but he always manages to get me to pass.” Minhyung admits. “I'd be screwed without him.”

“I'm pretty sure that Jeonghan will happily help you pass every single test after today.” Joshua comments with a shrewd look on his face, as if Minhyung's crush on Jeonghan was blatantly obvious.

They watch him flounder and flush for a minute before they take pity on him.

“It was nice to finally meet you in person.” Joshua says with a wide cat-like grin that makes Minhyung believe that he knows more than he lets on.

Jihoon makes a sound of agreement. As they leave he can hear Jihoon whisper “why are you encouraging him?” and decides that he doesn't like Jihoon very much. But for Jeonghan's sake he will try to be friendly with him.

On his way home he imagines all the cute things he's going to find on Jeonghan's phone. Clearly he's been talking to his friends about him, and curiosity burns in his veins.

The next day Jeonghan catches him after class to tell him that his phone has been sent to the manufacturer. It's a shame that he can't take a look at Jeonghan's phone, but when Jeonghan shows up to their next session with Minhyung's favorite coffee, he finds that he doesn't mind that much.

~

“We're planning to grab a drink after training is over. Wanna come with?”

Drinking. Of course.

It always boils down to this. The guys would practice until their muscles burn and chug all kinds of healthy shakes, but the minute their Friday training is over, they all just want to poison themselves with alcohol.

That's not to say that Minhyung doesn't appreciate a good drink himself, but it's ironic that all the athletes act like health nuts, yet spend their weekends partying and getting drunk.

“We got a test on Monday.” Jeonghan reminds Seungcheol gently, looking a little bit upset. Naturally, Seungcheol manages to ruin Jeonghan's mood in no time. “I don't want to spend Saturday hungover.”

“Oh, right! I forgot.” Judging by the look on his face there's no way that Seungcheol really forgot; always trying to trick Jeonghan into his plans. “Sorry. Do you want me to quiz you instead? I don't mind skipping drinks.”

Immediately Jeonghan's smile is back.

“That'd be awesome. Thanks, Cheollie.” They share a quick one-armed hug, and Seungcheol gives Minhyung a small wave that he returns, a fake smile firmly on his face. “Send me a message when you wanna meet up.”

Minhyung really, really wants to offer to quiz Jeonghan instead, but that'd blow his cover. The thought of Seungcheol and Jeonghan hanging out, probably alone, at one of their places makes him nauseous. He's heard the rumours, and he's seen Seungcheol preening like a peacock whenever he manages to catch Jeonghan's attention. Who knows what he'd do to Jeonghan given the chance? And sweet, kind Jeonghan would probably let him walk all over him.

“Okay, now. Back to work!” Jeonghan gives him a little nudge and Minhyung's skin tingles at the contact.

“Ah, yeah.” And just like that it's only the two of them again. Seungcheol's interruption is quickly forgotten when Jeonghan's attention is back on Minhyung; when he leans in close and patiently explains the entire session again.

Time flies by too fast and Jeonghan finally deems him done with their session.

“Hey, uhm...” His throat feels tight at Jeonghan's inquisitive gaze. “Thank you for helping me. I know I'm probably the worst student you've ever tutored.”

Genuine surprise flits across Jeonghan's face before it's replaced by something looking almost like mischief.

“Well, you do owe me something when you pass.”

His mind decides that now is the best time to conjure up all the dirtiest images it can come up with.

“Yeah?” It's by sheer luck and thanks to physics that he hasn't swallowed his tongue. It gets even worse when Jeonghan leans in close and grins.

“I want a slice of those fancy strawberry cakes from Madame Chou's.”

Oh.

“Yes, yes, of course.” He promises, swallowing down his disappointment.

“You've been doing great, and you look a lot better than at the beginning.” So Jeonghan has noticed that he's been working out. Ever since Jeonghan mentioned that he liked muscular arms in an offhanded comment, he'd started lifting weights. Jeonghan had never brought it up before.

But he'd noticed. He'd been paying attention to Minhyung.

“You think so?” He'd known that Jeonghan cares. Of course, he'd just been teasing him. He should have known.

“Mhm...” Jeonghan hums, and Minhyung doesn't imagine Jeonghan's eyes running up and down his arms.

With a burst of courage he holds out his hand to Jeonghan.

“I promise, if I pass, I'll personally take you to Madame Chou's and you can eat all the cake you want.” Cold fingers close around his hand and give it a firm shake.

“I'll hold you to it.” The smile he receives is another stunner.

Their moment is interrupted when Jeonghan's phone chimes with a message.

Seungcheol. Who else would bother them?

“Well, I got to go.” Before he leaves, Jeonghan turns around. “If you need anything, call me.”

He's not sure if his heart can handle Jeonghan's kindness.

“I will.” He most certainly will. There are a billion dumb questions he can come up with to ask Jeonghan.

“And don't forget the cake.” After a last goodbye Jeonghan rushes towards the exit of the library, quickly disappearing from Minhyung's sight.

He needs to pass. Grabbing his scattered utensils and notes, he stuffs them into his bag, absent-mindedly thinking about the test. On his way out of the library he notices that they'd been the only ones left behind, and that the sky outside is already dark.

It's only when he reaches his small apartment that he realizes that he's going to pass the class without question.

And that means.

He's got a date with Jeonghan.

He can't help but wonder if Jeonghan set them up on purpose.

~

It's a stroke of luck. Fate, really.

Just minutes after Jeonghan left, his phone chimes. A careful look around shows that no one is paying any attention to him.  
The pin code hasn't been changed and the phone unlocks just as easily as before. He thumbs through the phone, checking for Seungcheol's message.

'Sorry. I can't make it today. Coach is keeping us overtime. Please don't wait for me.'

As if some dumb team is more important than Jeonghan.

Cause a fallout... Surely it can't be that easy?

It just takes a few taps and Seungcheol's message is gone. The slightest bit of guilt churns in his stomach when he thinks of Jeonghan, waiting for hours only to be stood up, but he quickly shakes it off. It's for his own good.

Jeonghan's phone sits harmless and seemingly untouched in the same spot as before when Jeongahn returns.

Jeonghan's smile is a little less bright the next day, but it's a necessary evil.

He doesn't mean to make it a habit. He just can't help it. Every time Seungcheol tells Jeonghan not to wait the message mysteriously disappears.

Again.

And again.

And again.

Until one day Jeonghan doesn't approach Seungcheol, just walks past him, avoiding his eyes. The air around them feels oppressive.

~

During their session Jeonghan seems distracted, if not upset, and his phone doesn't chime a single time during their entire session.

“Is everything okay?” Of course it's not. He's heard rumors of an argument, and while he wants to rub his hands together in glee at the thought of Jeonghan finally recognizing Seungcheol for what he is, his soft-hearted Jeonghan is suffering, and he can't have that.

“Yeah.” Jeonghan begins before sighing deeply. “No.”

“Do you want to talk about it?” He's become very good at faking innocence.

“I got into a fight with Seungcheol... It's stupid.”

A part of Minhyung wants to openly gloat, tell Jeonghan that Seungcheol had never been good for him anyway. A bigger part of him wants to comfort Jeonghan, even if that means having to listen to him talk about Seungcheol. Another part of him points out that it'll be the perfect opportunity to pour gas into the fire.

“What about?”

“He ditched me and made up some dumb excuse about how he'd sent me a message. But I never got one.” Jeonghan explains, fidgeting with the pen in his hands. “He's been doing that a lot. When I called him out we got into a fight.”

Well, Jeonghan had been stood up by Seungcheol – without the latter's knowledge. Or rather Minhyung had made sure of that with every single deleted message. To be fair, he'd only done that so Jeonghan would finally see Seungcheol's true colours.

“Maybe there's something wrong with his phone.” Minhyung offers. “Could be a service or technical issue. Did you suggest that?”

“No. Everything just blew up. He acted like I was the one at fault.” The wet look in Jeonghan's eyes makes the forgotten guilt gnaw on Minhyung's inside. He'd known that there'd be casualties on his quest, but he never wanted Jeonghan to be one of them.

“Sounds more like he's been the asshole.” Carefully gauging Jeonghan's reaction, he reaches across the table to hold Jeonghan's cold hands between his.

“He's... I don't know... We haven't fought like that in years.” Jeonghan admits, making no move to withdraw his hands.

“It's not your fault.” he reassures him, ever so slowly rubbing circles on the back of Jeonghan's hands, marveling how soft his skin is. “It's just a misunderstanding.”

“Probably.” Jeonghan mumbles. His head is slightly bowed and his hair falls around his face. This time Minhyung is sure that no one will interrupt him, and lets go of Jeonghan's hand to brush his hair back behind his ear.

For a moment he's worried that he's overstepped his boundaries, but when a small blush spreads across Jeonghan's cheeks he knows that everything is fine, that he didn't misread the signals.

“God, I'm so lame.” Jeonghan says, drawing his hand back into his lap. “Whining about a stupid fight. So embarrassing.”

“It's fine.” Minyhung quickly tells him, not wanting Jeonghan to close himself off from him. “You can always talk to me, okay?”

There's something in Jeonghan's eyes that he can't figure out. The way he looks at Minhyung – as if he can see every thought that Minyhung is trying to hide – both scares and excites him. He wants Jeonghan to see him, wants him to understand that Minhyung is his soulmate, that he will do anything for him.

But he doesn't want Jeonghan to know what he's done. Not yet. Not when Jeonghan is so fragile. In a few years time when Seungcheol is a long forgotten memory, then he'll tell him.

“Thank you.”

Or maybe he'll never have to find out. It'd be kinder, and Minhyung will never have to worry about Jeonghan looking at him with anything other than gratefulness and love. He'd never lose the look of adoration – knowing that Minyhung is his One.

~

The summer heat is reaching unbearable levels and the air conditioner in the library barely provides any relief. Judging by the sound it makes it'll be a small miracle if even the slightest cold breeze fills the room.  
Almost as if hearing his thoughts, the air conditioner sputters pitifully and dies. The students groan collectively, and start packing up before the library becomes a furnace.

“We should go.” Jeonghan says, and starts gathering up his things.The heat really ruins everything, except Jeonghan's stunning looks. Even with sweat gathering at his hairline and heat-flushed cheeks, he manages to make Minhyung's thoughts turn less than appropriate. “It's getting way too hot to study here.”

“Do you have a place in mind?” Minhyung asks, hoping that Jeonghan won't just call it quits for the day. It wouldn't be surprising, and they had made a lot of “progress” during this session already. There's only so much Minyhung can do before he blows his cover; if he plays up his incomprehension too much, his clever Jeonghan would catch on.

“Actually, we could head over to my place.” His mind almost short-circuits. He's only dimly aware of Jeonghan's explanation. However, his one-track mind manages to catch on to the world “alone” and his world narrows down on Jeonghan standing before him, flushed and enticing.

“What?”

“Is the heat already getting to you?” The little grin and the adorable crinkle his nose are doing weird things to Minhyung's heart.

“Sorry.” Sweat runs down the back of his neck, and he's more than happy to head to a cooler place. Any place would have done, but being invited to Jeonghan's home? Winning the lottery would have been less exhilarating. “Sounds good. Anything to get out of the heat.”

“Anything?” Minhyung is not just imagining the suggestive tone. “Then you'll treat me to ice cream along the way?”

Oh god. The image of Jeonghan eating ice cream, licking the cone to catch the cream running down the sides, the cream staining his pretty pink lips, so tempting to lean in and kiss -

“Well?” There's no way in hell he'd ever deny Jeonghan.

“I'm not sure my poor wallet will be able to handle it.” He teases back, enjoying the surprised look on Jeonghan's face before the cute little grin reappears. “But for you, I'll risk it.”

The sound of cicadas is unexpectedly loud, but Jeonghan's stunned silence is deafening. Was that too brisk?  
Then he catches sight of the blush slowly coloring Jeonghan's cheeks – a tiny glimpse of his real feelings before his friendly mask slides back on his face.

“You know how to treat someone.”

They stop at an ice cream parlor along the way, and as Minyhung fantasized Jeonghan ends up licking the running cream from the cone.

Almost too soon they reach Jeonghan's home. The garden looks beautiful – well-kept and cared for. The interior is very stylish, as if someone in the household loved art, with modern designs. Despite that, the house gives off a cozy feeling with plants and photographs strategically framed and placed. As Jeonghan mentioned there's no one around, and the house is quiet. The only sound is their own, cluttering about and climbing up the stairs towards Jeonghan's room.  
He's not sure what he expects. Maybe a plain, boring room full of books; maybe full off sports trophies. Instead it's almost as stylish as the rest of the house, with the exception of an old , worn-looking couch sitting against a wall while photographs litter the walls. Some people Minhyung recognizes, others he's never seen before. On the desk are several frames that have been placed face-down, concealing the photographs.

“Don't mind them.” Jeonghan tells him, having caught on to Minhyung's blatant staring. “I'm just being petty.”

Photos of Seungcheol then. He'd prefer if Jeonghan threw them out completely, but Jeonghan is a soft, gentle soul. Too forgiving to be friends with Choi Seungcheol, but Minhyung can work on that. After all their friendship is currently suffering severely.

On cue the phone chimes, but instead of checking the message, Jeonghan turns off the phone and places it on his desk.

“It's okay to be petty.” Minhyung reassures him. “He's a dick.”

“He sure is.” Jeonghan says with a sardonic grin. “Come, sit.”

Despite its look the couch is soft and comfortable. The little, foldable table that Jeonghan sets in front of the couch is almost too small to place their books and papers on. That just means they have to scoot closer together, thighs touching.

The soft breeze of the air conditioner can't change the body heat between them. Jeonghan looks delectable with his hair gently swinging in the artificial breeze that he can smell Jeonghan's body wash.

Gods, he wants to lock the door and stay here together forever.

Naturally, after only a few minutes the phone downstairs rings. He can't hear who it is when Jeonghan answers, but the clipped words and the angry tone make it obvious. And if that hadn't done it, the loud stomping up the stairs would have been a dead giveaway.

There's a pause before the door opens again. Jeonhan is trying to gather himself for Minhyung. Even so, the smile on his face looks pained.

“Sorry about that.” The couch dips a little under Jeonghan's weight. “Where did we stop?”

“Is everything okay?” Obviously not. That idiot once again managed to upset Jeonghan, leaving him vulnerable and distressed. It'd only be right for Minhyung to offer his comfort.

“Yep.” comes Jeonghan's standoffish reply. The lines in his shoulders are tense as he runs his hands through his hair.

“Please don't lie to me.”

That's all it takes for Jeonghan's facade to crumble.

He doesn't say anything when Minhyung draws him into his arms, doesn't say anything when Minyhung gently strokes his hair, doesn't say anything just presses his wet face against Minhyung's neck.

“I'm here for you.” Minyhung reassures him softly. “I'll always be here for you.”

Jeonghan still doesn't say anything. He doesn't need to, cradled safe in Minhyung's arms.

~

It's not the best time. It probably won't be for a while. But if he waits, Seungcheol might find a way to worm his way back into Jeonghan's heart.

And Jeonghan promised.

As he expected, Jeonghan is sitting in their professor's research room, bent over a book and notes piled next to him. The only room where Choi Seungcheol won't look for him. But Minhyung knows of his little sanctuary – and he's on Jeonghan's good side.

“Hey.” Jeonghan whispers when he catches sight of Minhyung. A small smile graces his delicate features. “What's up?”

“I passed.” Minhyung replies, clutching his test results in his hands. “And I just wanted to thank you. I'd have been screwed without you.”

“I knew you would.” Jeonghan says, looking proud. “You worked so hard.”

This is it. Nervously he clears his throat.

“Do you remember what you made me promise?” Minhyung asks, heart beating in his throat.

“Of course. You owe me strawberry cake.” The look of satisfaction on Jeonghan's face is adorable. As if Minhyung didn't know that Jeonghan set them up for this.

“I was wondering if you're free on Saturday?” Minhyung asks. “We could go to Madame Chou's and then to the Aquarium.”

“The Aquarium? Are you trying to spoil me?”

Yes. Forever and ever. When Jeonghan mentioned that he used to go to the Aquarium with his family and that he had fond memories of it, he knew that he had to take Jeonghan there.

“Yes. I pretty much owe you my life.” Minhyung chuckles. And oh, Jeonghan's laugh is like sunshine.

“You owe me nothing, Minhyung.” Jeonghan reminds him firmly. “It was your hard work. I only helped you a bit.”

“I want to pay you back.” Minhyung insists, preparing to list the reasons why he owes Jeonghan.

“You were there for me when I needed you... and that's enough.” Jeonghan tells him.

Of course. He'd always be there for Jeonghan.

“Can I still take you out for cake and the Aquarium?” Minhyung asks boldly. The pen that has been twirling in Jeonghan's fingers stops at that, and Jeonghan looks at him for a long moment.

“I'd like that.” The smile makes Jeonghan look even more like an angel. How soon is too soon to kiss the person you asked out on a date? Is before the date too early? He'll have to ask Minyoung.

“Do you want me to pick you up or do you want to meet up at Madame Chou's?” Anything is fine. Whatever Jeonghan wants.

“I'll meet you there at four.” Jeonghan promises, and picks up his things. His eyes slide past Minhyung and narrow for a split second. Then, with the sweetest smile, Jeonghan quickly walks up to Minhyung, staring into his eyes.

He's so close that he can see every single one of Jeonghan's lashes.

“See you then.” Jeonghan says and presses a soft kiss against his cheek.

When the sudden choir of angels stops, he turns around, catching the angry glare of Choi Seungcheol.

He can't help the smug grin on his face.

Serves him right.

~

It's only the first of many meetings. They don't call it dates yet. Besides a few pecks nothing happened and Minhyung knows that Jeonghan is playing hard to get. It's cute that he doesn't want to lose Minyhyung's attention. As if he ever could.

As much as he enjoys their little teasing game, he wants more. He wants Jeonghan.

After lamenting to his sister over the phone – who had shown remarkable patience – she explained to him that Jeonghan wanted him to take charge.

“Jeonghan,” Minhyung begins when Jeonghan's pretty eyes bore into his. “I don't want to go to the cafe today.” He takes a deep, steadying breath. “I want to take you out for dinner. As a date.”

There, he said it.

“A dinner date?” Jeonghan asks, watching Minhyung carefully. “Did you not like the cafe?”

Oh, so those had been dates. Had Jeonghan just been taking things slow? Waiting for Minhyung?

“I love the cafe,” Minhyung is quick to reassure him. “I just want to take you somewhere special.”

“You are spoiling me.” Jeonghan says, voice sounding like the cat that got the cream.

It seems like a dream. After everything, all the hints, all the subtle touches and little kisses, it almost doesn't feel real. He's known that Jeonghan being fed up with Seungcheol and his lack of communication – courtesy of one brilliant move – would work just as his sister predicted. But he didn't expect Jeonghan to agree so easily to his dinner plans.

He knows that means that Jeonghan finally accepted that he has feelings for him, and that Seungcheol is nothing but a filthy traitor, who ditches him the second Jeonghan doesn't put up with his crap anymore.

“Great!” His voice doesn't crack with excitement, but it's a close cut. “I'll pick you up after the lecture?”

“Not even giving me a chance to change?” The coy tone makes it so obvious that Jeonghan is teasing him, but the thought of Jeonghan going home and trying to find something to wear to impress him makes Minhyung feel hot and cold all over.

“You'd look gorgeous in a plastic bag.” He manages to tease back, enjoying watching the blush spread across Jeonghan's lovely face. “But if you want to get changed first, I could pick you up at your place around eight?”

He wants to pick Jeonghan up at home, wants to take him home too, to sit on that soft couch and hold hands. To finally lean in and kiss him breathless, to slide his hands under Jeonghan's shirt and touch his smooth skin, to-

“Eight sounds great!” There's a look of genuine excitement on Jeonghan's face, and Minhyung wants him to have the best dinner date ever. “What should I wear?”

Nothing.

“Just something casual. It's nothing fancy.” He wishes he could take him to some fancy restaurant, have him hold on to his arm while people stare, showing the world that Jeonghan is his.

“Casual is fine.” Jeonghan promises with a wink. “I'll see you at eight.”

Before he can process what's happening, Jeonghan leans forward, drawing him in for a hug, his hair brushing against Minhyung's cheek. Then he rushes off, heading towards his group of friends that have been watching them from a distance.

The amount of time he'd spent staring could have been awkward, if Jeonghan hadn't clearly expected him to.

Casual had clearly been thrown out the window.

When Minhyung had knocked on the door, after spending more than an hour picking his nicest, but still casual-looking, shirt and carefully tousled his hair just right, he'd been unable to breathe for a second. The soft pink shirt Jeonghan had chosen really showed off his lovely skin tone, and the skinny jeans hugging his legs tightly made Minhyung's mouth water.

Luckily Jeonghan seemed to have anticipated, even wanted, him staring like a hapless idiot. With more enthusiasm than he'd expected Jeonghan allowed himself to be led to the car, and gave him the most beautiful smile when Minhyung held the door open for him to enter.

The drive was filled with small talk, chattering about friends and some university events. The restaurant he'd chosen was a bit hidden, but it'd been a tip from a friend who worked there part-time, and the few times Minhyung had visited the restaurant the food had been absolutely delicious.

When they finally arrive, Minhyung rushes over to the passenger side to help Jeonghan, earning himself a soft snicker and a fond look.

The waiter guides them to a private room in the back. After they order they sit in silence for a moment, simply watching each other. The lights make Jeonghan look even more ethereal, and the itch in Minhyung's belly keeps growing. He wants to skip dinner and go home together, to sink his teeth into Jeonghan's soft flesh and leave his neck covered in hickies.

“You know, when you said casual, I didn't expect you to take me to a charming place with a private room.” Jeonghan says. His fingers play with the hem of his sleeves, making him seem so small that Minhyung wants to pull him in his arms. “I feel underdressed.”

“No!” Jeonghan's slender fingers twitch and his eyes widen in surprise. “No.” Softly clearing his throat, Minhyung tries to hide his embarrassed flush behind his glass. Out of the corner of his eye he can see Jeonghan's surprise fade into a soft, fond look. A look he's seen directed at Seungcheol so many times, but now it is finally, rightfully directed at him.

As it always should have been.

“You look perfect.” He reassures Jeonghan, voice cracking only slightly. “Absolutely stunning.”

“Thank you.” Jeonghan's pleased little smile makes all the embarrassment, the preparations, and the long wait worth it.

He'd kill to see this smile every day.

“So, do you come here often?”

It's not an ideal icebreaker, but Jeonghan graces him with a little laugh.

The conversation never stops from there, turning from university to hobbies to music, and Minhyung learns that even more so than before, he wants Jeonghan to be his. Wants to be his lover, his partner for life, wants to be part of his family.  
Only once the conversation slows down, when Jeonghan's phone chimes and his expression becomes slightly wistful.

“Here.” With steady hands he pours Jeonghan a cup of soju. The little tilt of his lips and the grateful look on Jeonghan's face are worth knowing that Seungcheol is still trying to find ways to steal Jeonghan from him.

The small incident causes only a minor hiccup in their evening, and Minhyung quickly learns that alcohol makes Jeonghan very clingy and affectionate. It's beyond cute.

His mood sours slightly when he remembers how often that sly bastard Seungcheol had invited Jeonghan to go drinking with him, but it's quickly forgotten when a very tipsy Jeonghan leans against him.

“Why couldn't it have been you?” His voice is so small, so fragile, that Minhyung almost doesn't hear him. His arm only shakes slightly when he wraps it around Jeonghan's shoulder and holds him protectively.

“I'm here now.” He tells Jeonghan.

There's a beat before Jeonghan slips out from under his arm and onto his lap.

For a second the world stops as Jeonghan stares into his eyes before leaning forward and pressing his lips against Minhyung's.

It's everything Minhyung has dreamed of and more. Jeonghan's lips are soft, gently moving against his, before Minhyung threads his hands through Jeonghan’s hair, pressing their lips together more urgently. After a little bit of coaxing, Jeonghan parts his lips and Minhyung gratefully slips his tongue into Jeonghan's mouth, tasting the soju he'd been drinking.

Without thinking he deepens the kiss, hands falling away from Jeonghan's hair to settle on his hips. And he wants, he wants so much.

“Jeonghan, Jeonghan.” He whispers, fervently like a prayer.

It's only when he bucks up unconsciously and Jeonghan gives a little gasp, he realizes where they are.

“Jeonghan.” He whispers again, more urgently. “We're still at the restaurant.”

“Take me home.” Comes the whisper in his ear, as Jeonghan grinds down against him.

It takes all of his willpower to hold back.

He doesn't know how they got home. There's a gap in his memory between the restaurant and his apartment, and none of that matters.

All that matters is his beautiful, lovely Jeonghan with his red-kissed lips tugging at his clothes. They tumble towards his bedroom, hands roaming over each other constantly, and it's all Minyhung ever wanted and more.

“Minhyung, touch me! Please!” Jeonghan gasps, directing Minhyung's hands. His skin is soft under his shirt, as Minhyung strokes it. He fumbles with Jeonghan's buttons a few times, each time earning an affectionate giggle and a kiss wherever Jeonghan can reach.

They gracelessly fall onto the bed together, and somehow end up naked. How, Minhyung doesn't know, and he really couldn't care less.

He always imagined their first time somewhere romantic, in a high class hotel with candle light and rose petals. But this is so much better than a hotel room. So much more intimate.

No one else gets to see Jeonghan opening himself up for Minhyung and sliding down onto him. No one else gets to hear his moans as Jeonghan works himself into a frenzy.

This is all his.

It's him flipping them around, so that Jeonghan is underneath him. It's him gently and slowly rocking into Jeonghan until he's crying in frustration and pleasure. It's him getting to see Jeonghan moan and cry out his name as he comes between them. It's him biting down on Jeonghan's neck as he comes.

He's the one who gently cleans Jeonghan and holds him all night, trading lazy kisses.

He's the one wrapping an arm around Jeonghan's waist, smugly grinning at Seungcheol's heartbreak when Jeonghan isn't watching.

He's the one by Jeonghan's side.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Everything is sunshine and rainbows~

The smell of coffee slowly infiltrates his senses. There's the soft sound of footsteps, and the quiet clink of a tray being set on a nightstand. Then the bed dips, and a hand finds its way into Jeonghan's hair, ever so gently stroking his head.

“Hannie, wake up.” Minhyung presses his lips against Jeonghan's ear. “Breakfast is ready.”

“Nooo!” Jeonghan fake whines, drawing the cover over his head, waiting for Minhyung to follow his spiel. He's not disappointed when Minhyung slips under the covers behind him, pressing himself against Jeonghan's back. It's a feeling Jeonghan has learned to enjoy.

“Hannie,” Minhyung whispers into his ear. “You need to get up. The coffee is going to go cold.”

“Let it.” Jeonghan replies, snuggling against Minhyung, leeching his warmth. “Cuddle me instead.”

“Hannie,” Minhyung begins again, but stops when Jeonghan turns around in his arms. There's a moment where Minhyung just looks at him with his puppy-adoration and Jeonghan barely resists preening happily. “Fine.”

He allows Jeonghan to bury himself against his chest, pressing his head under Minhyung's chin. The slow and steady rise and fall of Minhyung's chest is calming, and it's only a matter of minutes before the warmth and coziness becomes enough for Jeonghan to doze off into a state of half-sleep.

Eventually they have to get up, Jeonghan knows, as he slowly drifts in and out of awareness. But right now everything is so nice and quiet, and he can just forget about all of his troubles. Minhyung is still there, holding him tightly and occasionally pressing kisses against his neck. Minhyung has a thing for his neck, as he openly admitted before, loves to spend hours trailing kisses up and down his neck to his collarbones, leaving marks everywhere. Sometimes he'll spend an entire evening in Minhyung's lap while the other sucks and bites on his neck until there isn't a single spot that has not been marked by Minhyung. Sometimes Minhyung will mark his thighs instead, sitting between his spread legs, suckling and biting Jeonghan's thighs until the other is nothing more than a puddle of need.

In truth, Minhyung has less of a thing for his neck and more for marking Jeonghan, but Jeonghan isn't going to call him out on that. It's nice how much attention Minhyung pays to him, and he has to admit, some days he likes to show off the lovebites on his neck. Even if it's just to show the world that he's with someone. Even if it's just to show Seungcheol that he doesn't need him.

It's petty.

Even so, Jeonghan can't bring himself to care. A small part of him wants to talk to Seungcheol, to accept his apology and get his best friend back. A bigger part of him can't let go of Seungcheol's words, can't let go of the hurt.

Sometimes, just sometimes, when he knows that there's no way that he can avoid Seungcheol, he even asks Minhyung to leave lovebites and Minhyung always, happily provides them.

It's so petty.

Minhyung is always there when he needs him now, has been for a while, and Jeonghan finds himself enjoying his company, his attention. He's not in love, not in the way Minhyung is with the way he looks at Jeonghan, but he feels affection for him, and maybe he can come to like him as much as he used to like someone else.

So he tries. They go on dates every now and then, and spend their evenings at Minhyung's place, more often than not leading to Jeonghan staying over.

Jeonghan loves waking up to Minhyung making breakfast for him, or spending lazy mornings in bed. Surprisingly, Minhyung has a very admirable sex drive and is a very attentive lover. Rather often they find themselves falling into bed again after breakfast, opting to spend their time on a morning romp before classes, or skipping breakfast altogether.

Speaking of which, Minhyung's kisses have become more insistent, drawing Jeonghan out of his thoughts. There's a hand slipping into his pajama pants, and Jeonghan rolls onto his back, giving Minhyung easier access.

The alarm clock on the nightstand glares at them. If they keep this up, they are going to be late, but Minhyung rolls himself on top of Jeonghan, and Jeonghan stops caring.

~~

For as long as he can remember, there has been something soothing about the aquarium. The calm blue colour and the fish swimming in circles in their tanks always helps him relax in a unique way. Watching a school of fish form what looks like a shimmering silver cloud is absolutely mesmerizing. Nothing matters and all of his problems become insignificant. He could stay here forever.  
When he was younger he'd visit with his family; when he got older, with Joshua and Seungcheol.

The giant tank stretching over three floors has always been his favorite. Sometimes he spends an entire afternoon sitting on one of the benches, watching the fishes and letting his mind wander.

Today Minhyung decided that this would be the perfect place for their date. And he's right. It truly is perfect. The spot they've found has a great view of the nurse shark tank, and is hidden enough that they have their privacy.  
The small pick-nick table is full of the food that Minhyung brought with them. Of course, Minhyung brought strawberries, well-aware of Jeonghan's weak spot for them.

The silence is comfortable. Minhyung doesn't push for conversation, lacing their hands together and sitting close. His presence is surprisingly calming. The soft blue light of the tank lulls him into a peaceful state of mind; moving closer to Minhyung, he guides Minhyung's arm around his shoulder.

When he turns to look at Minhyung, he catches him staring with an enamored look in his eyes.

“Hi.” he says with a smile, studying Minhyung's face. His eyes are so intense, almost staring into his soul.

“Hey beautiful.” Minhyung says, drawing Jeonghan close and rubbing their noses together.

The action makes Jeonghan's heart flutter. Minhyung has been nothing but sweet with him, fully aware of how distraught Jeonghan had been and despite that never pushes Jeonghan further than he is ready to go, waiting until Jeonghan tells him what he wants to share.  
Minhyung is so different from Seungcheol that Jeonghan's heart aches. Seungcheol had always been a solid presence, a source of comfort, in Jeonghan's life and losing him hurt. But Minhyung is doing his best to make him forget and to become his rock instead. He really appreciates Minhyung's efforts.

“What are you thinking about?” Minhyung wants to know, brushing back a loose strand of hair from Jeonghan's face.

“How handsome you are.” Jeonghan decides to reply, pleased with Minhyung's face lighting up. It's sweet how much he wants to make Jeonghan happy, and how he adores everything about him. Just the slightest bit of praise and affection have Minhyung tripping over himself.

“Nowhere near as handsome as you.” Minhyung shoots back, drawing Jeonghan into his lap and leaning in for a kiss.

It's one of those long, drawn-out ones where Minhyung nibbles on his lips and leaves him breathless.

“How did I get so lucky?” Minhyung whispers, before slipping his tongue inside Jeonghan's mouth again.

He doesn't know how much time they spend making out, allowing himself to get lost in the feeling and the serene atmosphere.

It might not be perfect, but Jeonghan is willing to give whatever they have a chance.

~~

There's nothing as awkward as meeting your ex on campus. Except they're not exes. Maybe ex-could have beens.

The air turns frigid as Jeonghan catches Seungcheol's stare. Besides him Chan nervously plays with the straps of his backpack. He wouldn't say that there's a rift in their friend group, but things have certainly been tense. It's obvious that most of them disapprove of Minhyung. Probably because they blame him for “the big fight” as Mingyu likes to call it.

There's a gentle nudge on his arm as Jun guides him away towards the tennis courts.

“One of these days he's going to keel over from your death glare.” Jun says, casually slipping an arm around his shoulder. His grip is surprisingly firm, probably to make sure that Jeonghan doesn't turn around and gets in another fight with Seungcheol. As if he'd be so immature. He's more for frozen silences in the face of Seungcheol's mix of anger and upset.

A small, deeply buried, part of him, feels bad when he sees Seungcheol. A much bigger part stews in anger whenever he sees him. Angry at how easily Seungcheol had broken his trust, and at himself for believing that Seungcheol would never throw his fear back in his face. While it seems as though Seungcheol regrets his words, Jeonghan can't find it in himself to forgive him.

“As if.” Jeonghan retorts, allowing himself to be ushered into the changing room.

“No really! It'd be a sight to see.” Jun says as they get changed. “No one would be able to charge you for murder! Just think about it!”

Others would have been put off by Jun's macabre humor, yet Jeonghan more often than not found himself enjoying it.

“You'd be like Medusa.” he continues his excited ramble. “Except you wouldn't turn people into stone.”

“Except she had no control over it and turned everyone who looked at her into stone.” Jeonghan counters, inspecting the tennis racket in his hand. “I'd rather only turn one person into stone.”

Jun's loud laughter follows him to the court as he runs a few exercises to warm up. He's still giggling to himself when he joins Jeonghan for his stretches.

“We got an audience.” Jun quietly remarks and nods his head, motioning to Minhyung who has taken a seat on one of the cheap plastic benches on the side. “He does like watching you.”

“Always has.” Jeonghan replies, waving at Minhyung. “He had the biggest puppy crush on me for months.”

“Anyone with eyes could see that.” Jun says, making his way into position across the court.

The tennis court is one of the few places where he can actually let go, where he can forget about everything that happened and just enjoy the moment. It's a great way to get the adrenaline flowing, and Jun makes a challenging opponent.  
Even though Jun's stamina is undeniably better than his, Jeonghan is a more strategic player with a great talent for tennis. So it comes to no surprise that he beats Jun, although he has to admit that Jun is steadily improving.

“Good game.” He tells Jun, handing him a towel. They are both drenched in sweat, and probably in need of a long shower, but Jeonghan feels great.

“Thanks. I'm totally going to beat you some day.” The pose Jun strikes could be straight out of a manhwa, and is absolutely meant to make Jeonghan laugh. Instead Jeonghan good-naturedly rolls his eyes and bites his tongue.

“I'm sure you won't.” He tells Jun, laughing at Jun fake-clutching his non-existent pearls.

“Great game!”

As quiet as a shadow Minhyung had made his way next to them, holding a bottle of water and some snacks in his hands.

“Thanks.” Jeonghan says, taking the water bottle and downing it quickly. Out of the corner of his eye he can see Minhyung handing some snacks to Jun, who accepts them with a wide grin.

“We're going to take a shower real quick and then meet you here, okay?” Jeonghan tells Minhyung, who nods happily and returns to the bench.

“Like a little puppy.” Jun murmurs, more to himself than Jeonghan, but Jeonghan hears him anyway.

“He's a bit clingy.” He admits. “But he's got his good sides.”

“I'm sure he does.”

The hot water is bliss on his muscles. In the stall next to him Jun is singing some Chinese song and, by the sound of it, dancing as well.

“Do you love him?”

He's so completely entranced by the soap bubbles running from his hair down the drain, that the question catches him off guard.

“What?”

“Minhyung. Do you love him?” Jun repeats over the sound of running water.

“I.. I like him.” Jeonghan replies. “He makes me feel good and treats me well.”

“Alright.” Is all Jun has to say to that. Everyone else who had asked him about Minhyung had tried to dig deeper, but with Jun that was that.

As expected, Minhyung is patiently waiting by the bench.

“Just don't rush into things.” Jun cautions him unexpectedly. “I don't want you getting hurt.”

Again, goes unspoken.

“Hey Hannie.” Minhyung greets him with a kiss. “It looked like you two were having fun.”

“We were.” Jun replies in Jeonghan's stead. “But I still can't beat him.”

“But you looked like you were holding your own for a while.” Minhyung compliments Jun. “I think that's pretty awesome.”

“Thank you.” Jun preens, falling into step with them as they make their way towards the library.

“By the way, there's going to be a party at Hyunwoo's place later.” Jun suddenly mentions. “Around eight.”

“Hyunwoo's?” One of the rich kids with more friends than he knows what to do with. Jeonghan knows him reasonably well, having spent a semester tutoring him. His parents rented a nice condo for him and Jeonghan had been there a few times in the past, but never for any parties. Hyunwoo had never been interesting in throwing any. “I think that's the first time I heard about him having a party.”

“I heard he finally got that girl from the library to go on a date with him, and now he wants to celebrate.” Jun elaborates while Minhyung looks more and more lost.

“No way! Library girl agreed to a date?” Jeonghan exclaims, thinking back to Hyunwoo telling him all about this cute girl working at the library that he had a huge crush on.

“Library girl?” Minhyung asks. And with an excited grin, Jun launches into the dramatic retelling of Hyunwoo's pining and woes all the way until he asked her out. Poor Minhyung looks very confused through all of this.

“Anyway, you're coming right?” Jun asks, and Jeonghan hesitates. Sensing his uneasiness Minhyung wraps a reassuring arm around his shoulder.

“It's going to be fun.” Jun continues. “Seungcheol doesn't even know Hyunwoo, so he probably won't be there. If that's what you're worried about.”

“We'll think about it.” Minhyung decides as they part ways. The arm around Jeonghan's shoulders remains firmly in place as they make their way to their chemistry class.

“Have you seen my phone?” Jeonghan asks, spinning in a circle. “I thought I left it on the table.”

“No idea where you put it.” Minyung tells him, nose stuck in a book. “You sure you left it on the table?”

“Pretty sure.” he replies, but Minhyung's attention is already gone. With an exaggerated sigh, he plucks the book from Minhyung's fingers. “Help me find it. Please?”

“What's in it for me?” Minhyung settles a hand on Jeonghan's waist, pulling him closer. “My help doesn't come for free.”

“My love and admiration?” Jeongan tries, leaning in to stroke Minhyung's hair. When Minhyung's face doesn't change, he dramatically drops into Minhyung's lap. “I'll take you out for dinner to the new Thai restaurant you've been eyeing.”

“And if I don't want that?”

“Well, what do you want?” Jeonghan asks, but when Minyhung trails a hand along the edge of his shirt, he gets a pretty good idea.

“You.” Of course. Minhyung could spend the entire day just staring at Jeonghan. And while it can be flattering, he really needs to go and get ready.

“You have me.” Jeonghan simply tells him. “But you know I have to get ready, because I smell like chemicals, and the party starts at eight.”

A long beat of silence. He knows that Minhyung is unhappy, because he thinks Seungcheol might show up; but Jun is right, it's unlikely.

“Okay, go get ready and I'll look for your phone.” Minhyung says, shooing Jeonghan from his lap. “But you owe me.”

“Thank you!”

It's not going to be fancy, he knows. But there’s a miniscule chance that Seungcheol will show up, no matter what Jun says, if only to get Jeonghan to talk to him. His texts had slowed down, dwindling to almost nothing, presumably because he realized that he was getting nowhere. At some point, Jeonghan might have it in him to talk to Seungcheol again, maybe even become friends again. But at the moment he only feels a mixture of anger and broken trust when he sees Seungcheol’s face, and he doesn't know when that will stop.

Despite all of that, the petty side of him wants to look stunning, to show Seungcheol what he messed up. And Minhyung to look at him with that desperate look of longing, that usually ends with amazing sex.

He doesn't rush the shower, instead makes sure that he is sparkling clean, and smelling like honey. When he's finally done, he spends just as much time standing in front of the closet, staring at his shirts that are partially stored there.

“Babe, I found it.” Minhyung announces as he enters the bedroom, waving the phone like a grand trophy, then coming to a dead stop. “You...”

Ah. He's still in a towel. It's very flattering to see Minhyung short-circuit and get this hungry look that makes Jeonghan blush.  
In a few quick strides Minhyung crosses over to Jeonghan. Carelessly tossing his phone on the bed, before grabbing Jeonghan's face with both hands and pulling him into a greedy kiss.

“We're going to be late.” Jeonghan complains in-between kisses, but lets himself be pushed backwards until they both end up on the bed.

“The party can wait.” Minhyung insists, nipping on Jeonghan's neck.

They end up fashionably late.

~

It’s a cozy, rainy day that they spend curled up on Jeonghan’s couch when he decides to bring it up.

“Minyoung mentioned that your birthday is coming up.” Jeonghan says, playing with a strand of Minhyung's hair. “What do you want?”

“You.” comes the predictable answer.

“You have me.” Jeonghan repeats their same old song and dance. Minhyung sits up from where he's been resting his head in Jeonghan's lap.

“I know.” Minhyung tells him, face inches away from his own. His hungry gaze sends shivers down Jeonghan's spine. “But...”

“Does it have anything to do with the box under the bed?” A bright red blush spreads across Minhyung's startled face. “Oh, come on! I clean that room. Of course I know it's there.”

“I see.” Minhyung's voice is rough, not quite like usual. “Did you look inside?”

“No.” There had been no point. He'd known that Minhyung would approach him about it eventually. After all, it seems obvious what's in the box under their bed.

“If...” Minhyung is so close. His lips brush against Jeonghan's as he speaks. “If I ask you to wear what's inside... use what's inside... would you do it for me? For my birthday?”

“Probably.” Jeonghan teases him, pressing a light kiss on Minhyung's nose. “If you really want me to.”

“Even if I want you to call me Oppa and make love to you all day?”

“That's kinky.” Jeonghan grins, wrapping his arms around Minhyung's neck. “But I might just do it for you, Oppa.”

The material feels smooth against his recently shaved legs and no matter how embarrassing it is, it is somehow enticing. The oversized pink sweater is barely long enough to cover his bottom, much less meet the white thigh highs that Minhyung had kept inside the box. The image he makes is quite erotic, he decides as he checks his reflection in the mirror. It's not something he'd come up with on his own, but he might even consider wearing the thigh highs again in the future. They certainly keep his legs warm.

The box sits still and silent on the bed, the contents, however, are glaring at Jeonghan. Minhyung didn't specify what and how he wanted things to go, but Jeonghan is certain he can figure things out.

“Welcome home, Oppa.” Jeonghan greets Minhyung with a soft voice.

There's a beat.

Minhyung chucks his shoes aside, stumbling on his way to Jeonghan, and crowding him against the wall. Minhyung seems to be incapable of words as he greedily drinks in Jeonghan's appearance, eyes stopping at the choker. That one hadn't been in the box, but Jeonghan figured it'd look great with his outfit.

“Is that for me?” Minhyung asks with a voice so husky that Jeonghan wants to purr in response.

“Yes. Do you like it?” Jeonghan bares his neck for better inspection, shivering as Minhyung's fingers trace the soft velvet.

“You minx!” With a growl Minhyung starts biting his neck all around the collar, occasionally stopping to nip at Jeonghan's lips and claim him with bruising kisses.

Fingers trail down Jeonghan's side, traveling lower to play with the hem of his sweater. With bated breath he waits for Minhyung's fingers to slip under the sweater to find another surprise. But instead Minhyung's fingers slide down further, finding the exposed skin between sweater and thigh high and softly caressing it. The gentle touch makes him giddy with anticipation. He can't wait for Minhyung to notice.

“You're so beautiful.” Minhyung sighs against Jeonghan's lips. “All mine.”

“All yours.” Jeonghan agrees, looping his arms around Minhyung's neck and staring into his eyes.

Minhyung draws him in another deep kiss, no less intense than their last one. His hands finally slide under Jeonghan's sweater, but much higher than he'd like. It's only when Minhyung presses closer, sliding one leg between Jeonghan's that he notices something is different.

Abruptly, he takes a step back, holding Jeonghan at arms length.

“You didn't...?” His voice is so dry that Jeonghan can't help the mischievous grin as he lifts up his sweater. “Oh my god!”

“What do you think, Oppa? I got it just for you.” Demurely lowering his head, he lets his hair fall and frame his face, just the way Minhyung likes it.

When he had opened the box he'd been impressed with all the things that Minhyung had compiled, but also disappointed by the plain panties he'd found. Compared to the soft sweater and the cute thigh highs, it'd been a bit of a letdown. In an adventurous moment, he'd looked up lingerie online and ordered some panties that caught his eye.

“It's...” Minhyung stares transfixed, almost unable to form words.

“You can touch me.” Jeonghan coaxes him, still holding up the sweater.

With an audible gulp, Minhyung runs his fingers along the seam of the soft pink lace panties Jeonghan chose. His fingers leave hot traces all along Jeonghan's skin, giving him goosebumps. He wills himself to hold still, to let Minhyung enjoy his present.  
Strong hands hoist one of Jeonghan's legs around Minhyung's waist as he pushes him against the wall. The angle allows him to feel the growing bulge in Minhyung's pants. He almost doesn't manage to hold back a satisfied hum.

Minhyung is making this so easy.

“I love it.” Minhyung growls, nipping at Jeonghan's neck, making little spikes of pleasure shoot through Jeonghan's body.  
One of Minhyung's big hands gropes Jeonghan's butt, slipping his fingers inside Jeonghan's panties, moving towards his entrance, and Jeonghan gives a little jolt.

“Oppa,” he lets out a scandalized little gasp. “Not yet.”

“Why not?” Minhyung asks. “Oppa wants you, baby doll.”

That in itself is not the big problem, since Jeonghan prepared everything, including himself, while Minhyung was out. But while Minhyung doesn't seem opposed to the idea, Jeonghan is not keen on doing it in the entryway where the whole world could hear him.

“But Oppa, didn't you want dinner and a movie first?” Jeonghan tries, making his voice as soft as possible and batting his lashes.

Predictably, Minhyung falls for it hook, line, and sinker.

Jeonghan bites back a sigh of relief when Minhyung's fingers pull back.

Casting Minhyung a coy look, he heads to the living room, subtly making sure that Minhyung is following him like a little puppy.

Opening the door to the living room, he lets Minhyung enter first.

“Holy shit...” Minhyung whispers, staring at the living room.

The couch has been pushed back against the wall to make space for the pillows and blankets that Jeonghan gathered to build a nest in the living room. He left one small spot while building the nest, so that he was able to place a small, low table on it. There are fairy lights that Jeonghan borrowed from his sister, hanging from the ceiling, bathing the entire room in an ethereal atmosphere.  
In the far corner next to the couch sits Minhyung's bedroom box.

“Go on. Take a seat.”

Completely mesmerized, Minhyung walks into the room. The pillows dip under his weight as he settles down. His gaze is caught on the fairy lights.

“Stay there.” Jeonghan tells him as he turns around to go to the kitchen. “I'll get the food.”

Minhyung is still staring at the fairy lights when Jeonghan returns with an assortment of finger food from Minhyung's favorite restaurant. His amazed look makes Jeonghan smile. Carefully, he puts the food on the table and sits down next to Minhyung.

“Do you like it?” He wants Minhyung to like it. He spent all day carrying out his plan, and preparing everything, so he wants Minhyung to appreciate it. It might only be a small show of gratitude for Minhyung's support, but Jeonghan put a lot of effort in it.

“I love it.” Minhyung stares at him with wide, hungry eyes. “It's amazing.”

“I'm glad to hear that.” Crawling closer to Minhyung, he starts nudging on Minhyung's shoulder until he gets the hint and lays his head on Jeonghan's lap. “I spent so much time preparing it, Oppa.”

“Did you?” Minhyung asks, obediently letting Jeonghan feed him.

“Soo much time.” Jeonghan fake whines, holding back laughter when Minhyung's pupils dilate at the tone. Too easy. “But I'm so happy you like it.”

He continues to feed Minhyung for a bit, stopping to brush his fingers along his jaw and give him soft kisses every now and then.

“Why don't you tell me about your day?” Jeonghan encourages him, and they spend their remaining dinner with Minhyung telling him about his day's events and getting pampered.

By the time it's completely dark outside, dinner is finished and Minhyung is still resting his head on Jeonghan's lap, staring at him adoringly.

“So, how about the movie?” Jeonghan asks. “I picked your favorite, unless you want to watch something else?”

“No, it's fine.” Minhyung insists, rising a bit to let Jeonghan go and turn on the TV. He watches as Jeonghan sets everything up, and Jeonghan can feel Minhyung staring at his panties when he bends over to press play. “Come back to Oppa.”

Hiding his grin behind a cute smile, he crawls back over to Minhyung, this time he's the one ending up in Minhyung's lap instead. Out of the corner of his eyes he can see the movie starting, but Minhyung isn't paying attention, more focused on slipping his hands under Jeonghan's sweater and letting them roam.

Well then.

“Oppa? Do you not want to watch the movie?”

“I'm watching.” Minhyung replies, as one of his hands reaches into Jeonghan's panties to give him a few strokes, making Jeonghan ache up in his lap.

He wants to protest, but when he turns to look at Minhyung his stare is fixed on the TV screen.

“Oppa,” he whines, gasping when Minhyung's other hand forces his legs apart. “You're distracting me.”

“Am I?” The chuckle makes him shudder as Minhyung's hand stops stroking him, trailing down further to probe against his entrance. He can feel Minhyung freeze when he slips a finger inside Jeonghan and is met with no resistance. “Did you prepare yourself for Oppa?”

“I did. Do you like it?” Jeonghan moans when Minhyung presses another finger inside and then one more.

“I love it.” Minhyung growls, slipping out his fingers and motioning for Jeonghan to sit up a little, and removes the panties. With one swift move he frees his erection and pulls Jeonghan down on it. “You're so good, baby.”

A small part of him wants to preen, but the bigger part is focused on Minhyung's length filling him. Even though he prepared himself, it's still a stretch, but it will feel good very soon. After a few moments he feels himself relax, letting himself fall back and roll his hips to show Minhyung that he's ready.

However, instead of taking the hint, Minhyung grabs his waist with both hands and holds Jeonghan still against him.

“Oppa?” He wants to know why Minhyung isn't moving. When he looks at Minhyung again, Minhyung's gaze is still set on the TV, completely ignoring him.

“Sh, baby. The movie's playing.” Minhyung tells him, sitting as still as a rock.

This has to be a joke.

“Oppa, please move.” Jeonghan whines, attempting to wiggle his hips, but Minhyung's hands won't budge. “Oppa!”

“No.” comes the response, and Jeonghan wants to pull his hair in frustration. “We're going to watch the movie. You're going to be good and wait til Oppa is ready.”

That is absolutely not going to happen.

He sits still for some time, letting Minhyung concentrate on his movie. His length sits so heavy inside Jeonghan that it's getting more and more difficult to stay still with every passing minute. When he is certain that Minhyung is not paying any attention to him, he sneaks one hand down to wrap around himself. With slow, careful movements he strokes himself, trying to find some relief.

“Baby, what did I tell you? You have to wait.” Minhyung growls, one hand wrapping around Jeonghan's wrist to pull his hands away. “If you can't be good on your own, I'll make you.”

“Please,” Jeonghan begs. “It's too much. Please move.”

“You can handle it.” Minhyung says firmly, but Jeonghan can't help himself. Moaning loudly he lifts himself up a bit to seat himself on Minhyung again. The sudden swat to his leg makes him freeze. “That's it!”

Before Jeonghan knows what has happened, he's face first in the pillows and Minhyung is pressing down on top of him. He's so deep that Jeonghan's toes tingle with excitement, thinking that he finally got his way.

But Minhyung doesn't move. At least, not in the way Jeonghan expected him to.

He can feel Minhyung bending over him, stretching, and he can hear the sound of the box lid hitting the pillows. There's some rustling before Minhyung withdraws, pulling Jeonghan back into his lap. The move makes Minhyung press against Jeonghan's prostate and he tries to rock back down again, but once more, one of Minhyung's arms wraps firmly around his wrist, holding him in place.

“I warned you, baby. If you can't be good...” But he is good, Jeonghan wants to complain. Minhyung is the one who's being unreasonable. “Give me your hands.”

Reluctantly Jeonghan holds out his hands, watching as Minhyung puts cuffs around them, then grabs a small chain and loops it from the cuffs to Jeonghan's neck. That way his hands are pulled up to his chest in what looks like a mockery of a prayer.

“There we go.” Minhyung says satisfied, pulling Jeonghan against his chest and placing kisses against his neck. “Now you're good.”

The movie is still blaring in the background and Jeonghan hates every second of it. The stupid movie is the reason that he has to wait.

It feels weird for Minhyung to be inside of him without moving. He doesn't know how to describe the feeling. He's full, waiting, and even without moving Minhyung is pressing against almost all the right spots, but not quite. And he can't do anything about it.

He wants to cry.

As if sensing his frustration, Minhyung loosens his grip a bit, running a soothing hand along Jeonghan's belly, and turns his head to pull him into a kiss.

“Just for the movie, okay?” He says, staring at Jeonghan imploringly. “You can be good for one movie.”

“I can't.” Jeonghan whines, but Minhyung shushes him. “It's too much.”

“You can do it.” Minhyung tells him, before turning his attention back to the movie. When he gives absolutely no indication that he’s going to change his mind, Jeonghan has to remind himself that he’s doing this for Minhyung. That it’s his birthday.

With a huff Jeonghan leans back against Minhyung, trying to blend out what is happening. The iron grip around his waist keeps him from moving, and the handcuffs keep him from reaching for himself. He’s unable to do anything. It's a weird feeling.

If he can just make it for a few more minutes... So he wills time to pass, slowly relaxing against Minhyung trying to focus on Minhyung's presence behind and inside of him. He starts to drift, not paying attention to anything around him anymore.

“Babe.” There's a little nip on his ear. “Baby doll, are you with me?”

Slowly the world comes back into focus. And with it, the ache in his belly.

“Minhyung,” He hiccups, turning around to look at Minhyung. “Please! I've been good!”

“ Yeah, you've been so good for me, baby.” Minhyung praises him, rolling his hips just the tiniest bit, and Jeonghan wants to sob in relief. “Oppa is so happy.”

“Can you move now?” Jeonghan asks, not daring to meet Minhyung's hips. “Please?”

“Aww, do you want it so bad?” Minhyung laughs, and stops his movements. “Then why don't you show Oppa?”

It takes a moment before Jeonghan understands what he means. His legs are shaking as he tries to find purchase against the pillows. His balance is all off with his hands tied up, but Minhyung's hands keep him somewhat stable. When he manages to find a position that is bearable, he gives a slow experimental roll.

“There you go.” Minhyung says, watching as Jeonghan grinds down on him, not moving at all.

His hips seem to have a mind of his own. He keeps mindlessly lifting his hips and sinking back down on Minhyung, chasing the pleasure, but never getting the right angle. He can feel how close he is to finding the right spot, but he can't get to it.

“Oppa,” he cries. “Please!”

The angle is starting to make his legs go numb as he grinds down on Minhyung again and again.

“Do you want Oppa to help you, baby?” He hears Minhyung ask, and can only nod frantically in response. And gasps loudly, when Minhyung grabs his thighs and pulls them close to his chest. Gravity makes Jeonghan sink down even further on Minhyung.

“You've been so good for me.” Minhyung coos. He starts thrusting up into Jeonghan, biting down on his collar. “So good.”

With every thrust he brushes against Jeonghan's sweet spot, knocking the wind out of him, and making tingles run through his body.

“I wish I could keep you like this forever.”

One of the bites that Minhyung places on his neck almost breaks his skin, but it only serves to amplify the pleasure. It's so much. Everything is pleasure and white noise. He knows that he must be crying out so loud, but he can't hear anything. He can feel Minhyung thrusting inside of him again and again as Jeonghan hangs helpless in his arms. There's nothing to find purchase on, nothing he can do but let Minhyung have him the way he wants him. Let him mark him, take him, until it all becomes too much and Minhyung is pushing him down face first into the pillows. The bites on his neck will hurt so bad in the morning, but all he can focus on is Minhyung's cock inside of him.

“Minhyung!” he sobs, and Minhyung finally wraps a hand around him.

It doesn't take more than a few strokes before Jeonghan comes with a whimper.

But Minhyung isn't done yet. So Jeonghan lays there, whimpering and moaning, as Minhyung rocks into him, biting and kissing his skin, until he comes with a loud groan.

Gently, he rolls off of Jeonghan, stroking his sweaty thighs and pulling up the thigh highs that have slipped down. With a satisfied sigh, he leans over Jeonghan to kiss him slowly.

“You were so good for me.” He praises him.

Jeonghan can't muster any words, still too exhausted, too overwhelmed by everything. So he watches Minhyung putter around, clean himself and Jeonghan up a bit before laying down next to Jeonghan.

“Thank you.” He presses another kiss against Jeonghan, slipping his tongue inside. They kiss for a few minutes and Jeonghan lets himself enjoy Minhyung's caresses.

“You're welcome.” Jeonghan croaks, still out of breath.

He's almost dozing off when he hears Minhyung fumble around with the box.

“Minhyung?” He asks, and holds his breath when he sees the glass plug in his hands. Surely not.

“Well, I did say I'd make love to you all day.” Minhyung replies with an easy grin, as he settles down next to Jeonghan.

And Jeonghan had agreed to it. He's clearly underestimated Minhyung's stamina.

“Wait, lube!” Jeonghan gasps when Minhyung presses the plug against his entrance. He wants to reach out and stop Minhyung, but his hands are still cuffed.

“Sh, you're wet enough.” Minhyung shushes him, continuing to press the plug into Jeonghan until it slides in with an obscene pop. “There you go! Keeping you nice and open for Oppa.”

Jeonghan whines, wiggling experimentally. He's so sensitive and the plug isn't helping.

“We are far from done, baby.” Minhyung promises, settling in behind him and pulling him to his chest with a satisfied hum. 

Jeonghan swallows down a whine, but can’t suppress the shiver that wracks his body. He’s clearly in over his head.

~~

The coffee in front of him is starting to turn cold. It must have been sitting on the table between them for a good hour now. To be fair, it's very good coffee and he'd usually enjoy it very much, but he still has to focus on finishing double-checking his professor's speech.

He can feel Joshua's stare long before he opens his mouth.

“You know you're going to have to talk eventually, right?” Joshua begins, carefully watching as Jeonghan's grip on the pen in his hand tightens. He does not want to have this conversation. “I get that things got out of hand, but he's really sorry.”

“Got out of hand? Did he tell you what he said?” Jeonghan demands to know. There is absolutely no way that Seungcheol told Joshua what he'd said. Otherwise Joshua would not be pleading his case.

“No, but look. We both knew he'd get jealous.” Joshua says, raising a hand before Jeonghan can interrupt him. “Let me finish. I know you took to tutoring Minhyung even though you knew he had a crush on you, 'cause Seungcheol kept flirting with that exchange girl.” That may or may not have been part of the reason why he'd chosen to tutor Minhyung, but only a little bit. “You got his attention back. And then what? You got in some dumb fight over Minhyung. Just kiss and make up. It's tiring to see you two dance around each other for years.”

Hot white anger rushes through his veins at Joshua's callous words. He can't believe what he's hearing. Is that really what Joshua thinks? That it's all about Minhyung?

“Some dumb fight over Minhyung? Really?” The pen in his hand creaks, and ink starts to spill out, running over his fingers. “Seungcheol stood me up again and again. And you know what happened when I confronted him? He lied straight to my face! And then got mad when I didn't believe his lies! He called me delusional...” And just like that his anger runs out, leaving behind the sour taste of broken trust. “He said... he said, it runs in the family.”

“He didn't.” Joshua says. All colour has drained from his face. “I can't believe he'd bring that up.”

“He did...” His eyes are suspiciously wet and he has to look away from his best friend. Instead staring at the ink splotches colouring his hand a dark blue.

“I'm going to kill him.” Joshua declares, face completely serious. “I can't believe he'd pull that shit. What an asshole! What the hell? And he had the gall to come to me and whine?”

It's refreshing to know that Joshua is still on Jeonghan's side. After all the chaos and drama, it's a breeze of fresh air to know that this, that his best friend in the world, hasn't changed.

“Hannie, you know it's not true, right?” As quick as Joshua's anger appeared, it vanishes. Not forgotten, but pushed back for a moment. Seungcheol is going to get it, but Jeonghan can't find it in himself to be happy about it. The words are stuck in his throat and he can only nod, not daring to look at Joshua. As usual Joshua sees right through him anyway; knows all of Jeonghan's fears like his own. “It's not true. And it's a dick move to even bring that up.”

“I know.” But what if he's right? On the one hand, Seungcheol has never stood him up before, on the other hand, Jeonghan never received the messages Seungcheol supposedly sent.

“Look at me.” Big hands gently close around his own, making him feel safe in a way only Joshua can. His eyes are serious, leaving no room for discussion. “I don't know if he really stood you up or if he really sent you the messages. I don't know what happened. If they got lost, if his phone fucked up or yours.”

There's an ache deep inside him.

“But no matter what, he shouldn't have brought that up.” Joshua says firmly, staring into Jeonghan's eyes. When he finds what he's looking for, he lets go of Jeonghan's hands. “He only did it to hurt you. And it's not true.”

What would he do without Joshua?

“I don't know what went wrong.” Jeonghan admits, more to himself than Joshua. “Everything was going well until he started ditching me. What did I do?”

“Listen, I'll try to figure things out, okay?” He can only hope that Joshua can shed some light on the situation. At least he'll be honest. Even if whatever he has with Seungcheol might be ruined forever.

His phone chimes and Minhyung's name flashes across the screen. And again. And again.

“Everything okay?” Joshua asks, watching as Jeonghan checks his phone and types out a quick reply.

“Yeah. Everything's fine.” Jeonghan replies. “Minhyung just wants to know if he should pick me up.”

“Really?” Joshua's tone is somewhat incredulous. To be fair, they are only a few hundred meters away from Minhyung's apartment, so his reaction makes perfect sense. “Is he still in that honeymoon phase? Or does he think you're a fragile flower?”

“He'd better not.” Minhyung absolutely does treat him like he's delicate. And no one has to know that sometimes, just sometimes, he likes it.

His phone goes off again. Quickly alerting him of more messages.

“He's clingy, huh?” Joshua notes with a shrewd look.

“Yeah. But he's just worried.” Jeonghan admits, writing a short reply. Minhyung means well, but he can be overbearing in his need to take care of him.

“Why? Are you okay?” Joshua asks, concerned, studying Jeonghan's face. “You do look pale today.”

“I'm fine.” Jeonghan starts, but drops the act at Joshua's bemused face. “I overworked myself and have been feeling a bit under the weather. Minhyung has been running after me like some worried mother hen.”

“Do you think it's a good idea to take on that assistant position at the moment?” Joshua wants to know. He's always supported Jeonghan, but they both know that there are limits. And the situation with Seungcheol has pushed him to make less than rational decisions. “You know that drowning yourself in work is not the answer to your problems.”

“Yeah. It's going to be fine.” Jeonghan says with as much conviction as he can. Clearly, Joshua doesn't believe him. But he really isn't into being interrogated right now. Or another lecture about his health. Joshua has certainly perfected them at this point.“So, how's the thing with Seokmin been going?”

It's fun to watch Joshua almost choke on his tea, successfully distracted from Jeonghan's situation. They both know that their talk is far from done, and Jeonghan knows that Joshua will sit down with him again. There’s no way that Joshua will let him get away with this, but for the moment, he might be willing to let it go. Even if it’s just to stop the tea from getting into his nose again.

~~~  


“Hello?”

The handle turns with a screech of protest. The floor creaks under his feet as he pads deeper into the house.

“Hello? I'm here!”

There's no reply. Normally his grandmother would wait for him at the door, excited to see her favorite grandson.

“Halmeoni?”

Maybe she was out? Though usually she left all the tasks that would require her to leave to his mother.

“Halmeoni?”

The house seems inexplicably darker than a few moments ago, at the same time everything became bigger. Or did he become smaller?

“Halmeoni?”

There's a kettle boiling on the kitchen stove, but no one in sight. Just to be safe he turns off the stove. When he turns around his grandmother is standing by the door.

“Halmeoni? Are you okay?” he asks as he wanders over to her. Her hair is unkempt and the dress she's wearing smells bad. There's a big, dark stain on it, but she doesn't seem to notice. Instead her eyes are focused on him, not even blinking when he reaches out to tentatively take her hand.

“Halmeoni? Do you need Eomma?” his voice is much higher than he remembers, and his grandmother so very tall.

“Hoseok? Where did you go?” His grandmother's voice is scratchy, like she hasn't spoken in a while.

“Hoseok?” That's the name of his uncle. “It's me, Jeonghan.”

“Oh, Hoseok. I've been looking everywhere for you.” She exclaims. Her huge hand closes around his wrist and pulls him into her embrace.

“Halmeoni, I'm going to get Eomma.” Jeonghan tells her. “You're not well.”

An inhuman screech leaves her mouth upon his words.

“No! My baby! Don't leave me!”

His lithe body is violently pulled forward as his grandmother drags him along behind her. Out of the kitchen, down the hall, and up the stairs.  
He knows the room they're standing in front of. No one is allowed to enter. Ever.  
Frantic, he tugs at the clawed fingers around his wrist.

“I don't want to! Let me go!” He cries as his grandmother flings him into the room.

“I got you back. Now we'll be together forever.” Her smile has too many sharp teeth and her eyes have gone completely black. Scared, he backs away into a corner, whimpering when he feels her claws stroke his hair. “Just you and me.”

Barely suppressing a scream, he closes his eyes and covers his ears.

When he opens them again, she's gone.

Ever so slowly, he inches towards the door, scared that his grandmother will come back. The handle refuses to turn under his hands, the door won't budge. He looks around for another exit. The window is too high up for him to reach, so he pushes the big desk with all his might until he must be right under it.

When he looks up, the window is gone.

A shiver runs down his spine.

He'll have to try the door again, maybe it'll work this time. When he turns around to give it another try, the door has disappeared.

He's under water.

There's nothing but the walls. Everything is gone. He's alone. It's so dark. A claw closes around his ankle, slowly pulling on him. He looks down, meeting black eyes, and-

“Hannie! Babe! Wake up!”

There's water in his lungs and he can't breathe. The clawed hand digs into his ankle and the room gets smaller and smaller. There's nowhere left for him to turn. He spins around in circles, but everywhere he's met with a wall blocking his way.

More claws reach for him, pulling on his legs, his arms, his face; searing painful marks into his skin. He opens his mouth to scream. Darkness floods his mouth and he can't breathe, can't see-

“Jeonghan!”

There's someone next to him and he scrambles to get away, legs tangled in something soft. Strong arms catch him and pull him back.

“Hannie, Jeonghan! It's me!”

The arms are too tight. He can't get away. He can't breathe. It's so dark.

He can't. He can't. He can't.

“Sh! Sweetheart, it's me!” The hold around him doesn't loosen, and he's pulled back against a solid chest. Seungcheol? “It's okay. You're okay.” A voice murmurs into his ear. Not Seungcheol. Not Joshua? Who? Oh. Minhyung. “It's just a nightmare. You're okay.”

“Minhyung?” He asks, voice breaking, throat sore, and breathing heavily.

“Sh, it's okay. You're safe.” Minhyung gently rocks him from side to side. It reminds him of when he was so much younger.

“I...” He can't get the words out. Shaking, he presses against Minhyung. This hasn't happened since he's been with Minhyung.

“I got you. It was just a nightmare.” Minhyung reassures him, pressing kisses against Jeonghan's temple. “You're safe with me.”

“Can we turn on the light?” He hates how small his voice sounds, how fragile he feels.

“Of course.” Despite shuffling around to turn on the light, Minhyung makes sure to keep at least one hand wrapped around Jeonghan's wrist. And Jeonghan clings to the feeling, anchors himself in the tight grip. He's so grateful that Minyhung doesn't let go.

When light floods the room, he can finally breathe again.

“Better?” Minhyung asks, tugging on Jeonghan's wrist until he slides into his lap.

“Mhm...” Jeonghan hums, pressing his ear against Minhyung's chest. His heartbeat is loud, almost loud enough to drown out the sound pounding in Jeonghan's ears. He doesn't dare to close his eyes again, instead staring at the little lamp on the nightstand.

“Do you want to talk about it? You sounded terrified.” Minhyung prods carefully, running his fingers through Jeonghan's hair.

“I...” The truth will only come back to bite him, but the worst has already happened. “Do you remember the movie we watched?”

“Yeah.” Minhyung's fingers stop for a moment before resuming their soothing stroking. “You don't like horror movies? I'm sorry, sweetheart. I didn't know. I should have asked.”

“No, no... that's not...” He's safe here. Everything is fine.

Minutes pass as Jeonghan tries to decide what to do.

“I'm terrified of spiders.” Minhyung breaks the silence. “When I was younger Minyoung and I got into a fight. She loved all kinds of bugs, so after our fight, she went upstairs and collected all the spiders from the attic. That night I woke up to spiders crawling over my face... I don't think I've ever screamed that loud again in my entire life.”

“That's awful.” Jeonghan whispers, shuddering at the feeling of phantom spiders crawling up his arms.

“Yeah.” Minhyung admits, nosing at Jeonghan's hair and inhaling deeply. “I still can't stand the sight of them. Every time I see one, I can feel them crawling all over me.”

That reminds him so much of the feeling of walls closing in on him. Maybe Minhyung will understand.

“When I was seven,” He starts, swallowing heavily as nausea makes itself known. He can do this. “I got locked in a room for three days.”

“Why?” Minhyung asks, voice horrified. But Jeonghan can't bring himself to tell him. Not after what Seungcheol had said. Instead he gives a small shrug, and Minhyung gets the message. “Was that what the nightmare was about? Being locked up?”

“Yes.” The small admission sits heavy on his tongue.

They sit in silence for a while. Every now and then Minhyung will press a kiss against his temple or stroke his back. Despite how cozy it is, he can't bring himself to relax.

“You're tense.” Minhyung remarks as he runs his fingers down Jeonghan's rigid spine. “How about I make you some chamomile tea? It always helps me relax.”

He's not fond of tea, nor does he want Minhyung to leave, but Minhyung has made his decision; carefully untangling himself from Jeonghan.

“I'll be right back.” He promises and leaves Jeonghan with another reassuring kiss.

Time drags on while Minhyung is away and the shadows on the wall seem to grow bigger. He knows that it's only his overactive mind playing tricks on him, but he's tempted to abandon the bedroom to find Minhyung. Just as he is about to throw back the covers, Minhyung enters the room with a mug in his hand.

“Oh, sweetheart” Is all he says as he rushes over to Jeonghan. He can't help but wonder what he must look like. “I got you.”

The mug is placed on the nightstand as he settles down next to Jeonghan. The smell of chamomile fills the room while Minhyung pulls Jeonghan to sit in his lap. Once he's safely situated, Minyhung grabs the tea and hands it to Jeonghan.

“Careful, it's hot.”

The heat feels nice as it spreads through his body. He drains the cup with greedy gulps, settling back against Minhyung when he is done. He allows Minhyung to shift them around until Jeonghan is curled up on his chest and their legs are tangled together.

The light is still on, yet neither of them makes a move to turn it off. One by one Jeonghan can feel his limbs become relaxed and his eyelids grow heavy.

“Just relax. You're safe with me.” Minhyung whispers in his ear.

And finally Jeonghan's eyes slide shut.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Jeonghan's part will be split in two, since it turned out to be a lot longer than expected.


	3. Chapter 3

The smell of rancid food is almost enough to make him throw up. When he agreed to help his professor during the semester and support his research, he'd blindly assumed that it mostly meant gathering source materials and sorting through information. As it turns out, it means not just that, but also cleaning up after his professor, listening to his private stories, and transcribing his lectures. At the moment it means rummaging through his professor's office to look for a specific book while suppressing his gag reflex. The smell is horrid, and Jeonghan is trying to give the sandwich wearing a fuzzy coat a wide berth. When he finally spots the book, a cup of something is sitting on top of it. The small headache he's been dealing with all day, is getting worse the closer he gets to the book. He's almost scared to approach the cup, but he has no choice. He needs the book.

It's even worse than the sandwich.

He can't do this.

But he has to.

With one hand covering his mouth and nose, he picks up the cup by the handle. Careful not to spill anything, he makes his way to the sink and slowly tips the cup. He thought that the smell was bad, but the gooey texture is what does him in.

He barely manages to reach the trash can before he loses his stomach contents.

“Hyung?” A concerned voice asks next to him, and he notices that someone crouched down next to him. “Get some water.”

“Okay.” replies a person somewhere behind him.

Once he's certain that his stomach is empty, he allows the person next to him to help him up. A wet cloth is pressed to the back of his neck, and a glass of water is held to his lips.

“Thank you.” he says after taking a tiny sip.

“Gross.” he hears someone complain as he's being led out of the room. Nausea makes it difficult to open his eyes.

Someone guides him to a chair and opens the window. The fresh air feels great and it's just enough for him, so that he can open his eyes and stare at the concerned faces of Chan, Hansol, and Soonyoung.

“I'm fine.” he tells them, but it's obvious that they don't believe him. To be fair, they did find him in a less than great position. “What are you doing here?”

“We were on our way back from practice when we heard you.” Soonyoung explains, using the wet cloth to wipe the sweat from Jeonghan's brow. “Are you feeling better? Do you want us to take you home?”

“It's okay.” he waves Soonyoung off, and tries to stand up, only to be firmly pushed back into the chair. His professor needs the book, and Jeonghan needs to leave the best impression if he wants to get the scholarship next semester. “Listen, I just need to take this to professor Kwon. Then I'll go home.”

“I'll do it for you.” Chan offers, already grabbing the book that Jeonghan had motioned at. “He's in the science building and I got to go there anyway.”

He really wants to protest. Professor Kwon is expecting him, and what will he think if Chan brings him the book in his stead? It might make it seem like Jeonghan is trying to shirk his tasks.

“You look like you're about to faint.” Chan tells him. “You need to rest. I'll tell him. He'll understand.”

And if he won't? He wants to ask, but Chan is staring at him with worried eyes, and it makes Jeonghan's stomach clench with guilt. He can only imagine what he looks like right now.

“Alright.” he gives in, because he can't handle upsetting Chan right now. “Thank you.”

“No problem.” There's a moment of hesitation, as if Chan wants to say something, but decides to swallow it down. “Please go home and rest.”

  
  


After midterms are over, he wants to reply. It was his decision to become his professor's assistant, instead of continuing his tutoring – Minhyung being the only exception. The small salary that he earns is barely worth mentioning, but he's not doing it for the money. Since he's officially living at home – and unofficially spending most of his time at Minhyung's place – he's not tight on money. But his professor heavily implied that he'd do everything to help Jeonghan get his scholarship, and then he could fully focus on his research.

  
  


“Hyung?” Hansol's calm voice tears him out his thoughts. “We're going to help you up and take you home.”

He doesn't need help getting up, but when his feet hit the ground, the world tilts on its axis. It's thanks to Soonyoung that he doesn't fall to the floor.

“I'm fine.” He tells Soonyoung. Stubbornly forcing down his nausea and gently freeing his arms from where Soonyoung had been holding him up. The world wobbles under his feet and he ends up against Hansol’s chest. “Okay. I'm not. Just take me home.”

“I'm gonna call Eomma.” Naturally Soonyoung doesn't mean his own mother, but Jeonghan's. No one ever bothers to call the other's parents anything other than Eomma and Appa. 

There's something bothering him, but he doesn't know what it is.

“Hyung?” Soonyoung's voice pulls him out of his hazy state. “There's no reply.”

Oh. Right.

“They're visiting Halmeoni.” Jeonghan grits out. The daze is fading and being replaced by a crushing headache that rattles his teeth. “Take me to Minhyung's place. He'll be home by now.”

“Minhyung? Are you sure?” Soonyoung carefully asks.

“Let's go.” Hansol says in Jeonghan's stead, having noticed Jeonghan's clenched jaw. It's no secret that Soonyoung doesn't like Minhyung and that's fine. But for the moment Jeonghan needs him to ignore his dislike and take him to Minhyung.

Without further comments or protests, Soonyoung and Hansol work together to help Jeonghan to Minhyung's apartment. They need to take several breaks to let Jeonghan catch his breath and they are sorely tempted to catch a taxi, but somehow manage to make it all the way to Minhyung's place.

  
  


As expected, Minhyung is already at home and lets them in. Startled, he helps Soonyoung and Hansol settle Jeonghan on the couch.

“What happened?” Minyung demands to know, and Soonyoung's shoulders stiffen in response.

“He threw up and hasn't been well.” Hansol replies, brushing Jeonghan's sweat-soaked hair back from his face. “He almost passed out.”

He absolutely did not. But the world has a gray tint to it, so he keeps his mouth shut.

“Oh, sweetheart.” The disgust is clear on Soonyoung's face, and even Hansol looks disapproving. “It's going to be okay. You just rest.”

Protest dies on his lips when a fresh wave of nausea hits him, and the headache reaches a new crescendo.

“You can leave. I got it from here.” He hears Minhyung dismiss the others. Neither of them are pleased with Minhyung's manners. At the moment they have no other choice, and he is grateful that they leave after one last check-up and request updates from Minhyung.

It's bad enough that he's being a burden to Minhyung, so he's relieved when Soonyoung and Hansol leave. It's embarrassing as it is, they don't need to witness him being a mess.

“Hannie?”

Something gurgles in his stomach and he barely has time to warn Minhyung before he throws up again. Minhyung doesn't say anything, just helps Jeonghan up and into the bathroom. The mix of shame and gratefulness burns his throat just as much as the bile did. Still, Minhyung doesn't mention anything, just helps him clean up and get changed before helping him into the bedroom. With shaky movements he crawls into the bed as Minhyung closes the curtains.

“You've been working too hard.” Minhyung scolds him lightly, making sure that Jeonghan is properly covered. “You should rest more.”

“Mrgh...” is the only affirmative that Jeonghan can give, curling in on himself.

“I'm going to get some medicine from the pharmacy real quick, okay?” Nodding slowly, not trusting his voice, Jeonghan sees him off. He drifts off for a bit, but the headache makes it impossible to fall asleep.

His phone chimes and glows brightly in the darkness. Fumbling with trembling fingers, he manages to grab his phone and open the message.

'I know you're still angry with me, but Chan told me what happened. I know it's not my place anymore, but please take care of yourself.'

His eyes are suspiciously wet and he has to suppress a sniffle.

Of all people.

'I can't put in words how sorry I am. I was out of line. I miss you. I'm sorry.'

He hates how vulnerable the text makes him feel and that Seungcheol chose to message him at a time like this.

His thumb hovers over the keyboard.

  
  


“I'm back.” Startled, he drops the phone. “Sweetheart, don't check your phone, if you're not feeling well.”

The smell of honey with a hint of chamomile fills the room.

“I made some tea.” Minhyung explains as he hands Jeonghan the medicine. “This will help with your nausea.”

His phone is plucked from the sheets and put on the nightstand. He struggles to sit upright, arms almost too weak to support him.

“Here, sweetheart.”

Just looking at the pills makes his stomach churn. His hands tremble as he takes the glass that Minhyung is offering him and swallows the pills. They feel like shards of glass sliding down his sore throat.

“Careful, Hannie.” The cup of tea smells so strongly of honey that his eyes water. Despite the face he makes, Minhyung insists on handing him the cup. “C'mon, Sweetheart. Drink up.”

The strong taste of honey overpowers the much weaker taste of chamomile, and the sweetness is almost too much. Still, he downs the cup of tea.

When Minhyung settles down next to him, Jeonghan cuddles close, pressing his face against Minhyung's chest and willing his stomach to calm down.

“Sorry.” He mumbles weakly, tensing and then relaxing under Minhyung's hands as he softly strokes Jeonghan's hair.

“It's okay. I got you.”

Slowly his limbs become loose and his headache gives way to welcome darkness.

  
  


~~

The dingy, little couch in Jihoon's studio has always been a safe haven for him. Everyone was astonished when they learned that Jihoon had given him the combination to the studio almost immediately, while some of them still have to beg for access. Though it has been as much for Jihoon's peace of mind, the younger enjoying his quiet support, as it has been for his.

There's nothing quite like resting on the small couch to get away from everything. Recently, he's been taking more advantage of his little refuge than before. The headache he's been dealing with for weeks leads him to seek solitude, and surprisingly, as noisy as Jihoon's studio can be, it's always the best place for him to collect himself. There's something relaxing and familiar in watching Jihoon work.

  
  


“You look like death warmed over.” Jihoon comments when he turns to look at Jeonghan's curled up form on the couch. “Why did you even come to university? I don't think you have any classes today.”

“Can't I visit my favorite music producer?” The teasing falls flat at the look on Jihoon's face.

“Not if you don't tell me what's wrong.” Jihoon grouses, coming over to sit down next to him. He doesn't complain when Jeonghan wraps himself around him like an overgrown cat.

“I'm just tired.” Jeonghan explains. “Professor Kwon has been giving me so much work on top of my research. And I don't sleep that well.”

“Don't tell me the rebound has been keeping you up.” From the beginning Jihoon hadn't liked Minhyung. That in itself would have been fine, since he's always been close to Seungcheol, but he's also been blatantly rude to Minhyung's face. Neither Minhyung nor Jihoon are happy that Jeonghan spends time with the other.

“Do you really want to know about my love life?” Jeonghan asks dryly, grinning at the disgust on Jihoon's face. He's given up on trying to make Jihoon see Minhyung's good points.

The sound Jihoon makes reminds Jeonghan of a wet cat. Still, despite the obvious disgust on his face, Jihoon doesn't move an inch, just carefully brushes his hand through Jeonghan's hair.

“Do you want to listen to the new song I composed?” Jihoon swiftly changes the topic, and Jeonghan hides a grin behind his hair.

“Of course.” He lets Jihoon go, stretching as he follows him to his computer. Following Jihoon's instructions, he sits down and lets Jihoon slip the headset on him. Everything is muffled until Jihoon presses a few buttons, and Jihoon's voice accompanied by the sweetest melody sounds from the headset.

“It's beautiful.” His throat feels tight and he doesn't quite know why. “I mean it, Jihoonie. You've outdone yourself... What's it called?”

“Hug.” Jihoon replies, trying and failing to hide his blush. Jeonghan would love to coo at him. “I want you, Seokmin, Seungkwan, and Joshua to provide the vocals. With me.”

“Oh.” Now there's a lump in his throat, and he has to swallow a few times. “Are you sure?”

“Yes. It'll be perfect.” Jihoon tells him firmly.

Insecurity gnaws at his bones. He could never compare to Seungkwan and Seokmin's excellent range, nor Jihoon's and Joshua's high notes. He doesn't want to ruin the song. But Jihoon wants him, and he wants Jihoon to be happy.

“You're overthinking.” Jihoon tells him, perceptive as always.

“I'll do it.” Jeonghan says, running a hand through his hair, feeling just the slightest bit jittery.

The smile that spreads across Jihoon's face is so adorable that Jeonghan wants to pinch his cheeks. And even though he knows he can get away with almost everything, he doesn't want to ruin the moment. So he leans back and watches Jihoon set up a few things, moving around his studio, buzzing with excitement. When he catches Jeonghan's indulgent smile, he stops and clears his throat nervously, then falls into a more sedated pace. That only makes him seem even cuter in Jeonghan's eyes, but he wisely chooses to keep that to himself. Exaggeratedly stretching, he makes his way back to the couch.

“Will you wake me up before you leave?” he requests, curling up on the couch. Exhaustion sits deep in his bones. A few minutes of sleep won't hurt.

  
  


He wakes up to gently being shaken. The headache rattles in his skull, and the exhaustion seems to have gotten worse. As if he slept for less than a minute, but at the same time it feels like years have passed.

“Whassit?” He mumbles disoriented, rubbing sleep from his eyes, and clumsily sitting up. “Hoonie?”

“Hyung, you really don't look good.” Jihoon tells him, concern evident in his voice. A big frown mars his face when it swims into focus. “You should see a doctor.”

“'m fine.” Black spots dance across his vision. “Just a bit overworked. I'll sleep it off.”

“I don't think that'll be enough.” Jihoon says, handing him a can of coke from out of nowhere. “You need a break.”

“I only need to make it to the end of the semester.” Jeonghan explains. Irritation bubbles up at the thought of another two months of running himself ragged. Only two more. He can do it. “Then I'm done. I promise.”

The look on Jihoon's face makes it very clear that he neither believes him nor thinks that he'll last that long. But he has to.

“Hyung,” Jihoon begins, but catches whatever he wants to say. “If you need rest, no one will blame you. Please take care of yourself.”

“Don't worry, okay? I'll be fine.”

It's obvious that Jihoon wants to protest, but at that moment he can hear his phone vibrating, saving him from the situation. When he checks it, there are several messages from Minhyung, asking where he is and when he'll be back.

'I'll be home soon.’ He sends Minhyung. His back aches when he bends down to pick up his bag. “Sorry, I got to go.”

'Where are you?'

'University. I'm leaving now.' The phone is slippery in his hands, almost making a grand escape from his fingers, if not for Jihoon catching it.

“Try to get some rest.” Jihoon says as he hands him the phone back. “Maybe just skip tomorrow's class. The rebound can take notes for you. Or one of us will.”

He's too tired, too exhausted to argue. So he gives a short nod, and bids Jihoon farewell.

  
  


The way to Minhyung's apartment isn't too long, but seems to drag on forever. When he opens the door and stumbles inside, he's met with Minhyung's upset stare.

“I'm sorry, I'm late.” Jeonghan begins, bracing himself against the wall as he slips the shoes off his feet. “I fell asleep.”

“Who were you with?” Minhyung wants to know, steadying Jeonghan and leading him into the kitchen. “I tried calling you,but you didn't pick up.”

“I was at Jihoon's studio.” He explains. “I needed some rest.”

Minhyung doesn't need to say anything. His pursed lips and frown tell Jeonghan everything.

“You could have come here, you know?” Minhyung tells him.

The food on the table is still warm, but barely so. He watches as Minhyung goes to heat up the food, disapproval radiating off of him without any words. He doesn't remember if Minhyung mentioned dinner, but he clearly messed up.

Dinner is a silent affair. When Minhyung starts putting the dishes away, Jeonghan can't take it anymore.

  
  


“I'm sorry.” Jeonghan says, coming up behind Minhyung to wrap him in a backhug. “I didn't mean to fall asleep.”

“I'm not angry.” Minhyung says, though his tone tells a different story. “It's just... you've been so busy lately.”

“I...” he begins, unwilling to admit that he has bitten off more than he can chew. Minhyung will most certainly scold him for overdoing it. “I just had a lot of work. Professor Kwon is preparing for a conference, and I need to help him out for a bit.”

“I see.” Minhyung says, not even looking at Jeonghan, instead focusing on cleaning the plates in front of him.

“I'm sorry.” Jeonghan tries again. “I know you don't like Jihoon, but he's a good friend, and I needed a quiet place to nap.”

“I just don't see why you couldn't have come to me.” Minhyung replies, finally turning around to look at Jeonghan. “Did I do something wrong? I thought you liked being with me.”

Oh.

“I do!” Jeonghan insists, quickly looping his arms around Minhyung's neck and staring into his eyes. “I love being with you.”

“Really?” Minhyung's eyes are sad. Guilt strikes him like a slap in the face. He's been busy, but he never meant to hurt Minhyung.

“Yes.” He tells him, as sincerely as he can. “Of course.”

The smile that spreads across Minhyung's face is brilliant, and Jeonghan wants to sigh in relief.

Minhyung draws him in a kiss, and Jeonghan melts. He's so gentle, so sweet that his worries melt away, and he allows himself to relax in the moment. Then Minhyung's hands slip under his shirt, and exhaustion rears its ugly head back in.

“Minhyung,” he begins, softly pushing Minhyung's hands away. “I'm tired.”

“Oh, I see.” Minhyung replies, taking a step back, and trying not to look upset. Except he's failing miserably.

So he leans forward, kissing Minhyung, and pulling him close again.

“Be gentle, okay?” Jeonghan requests, and Minhyung nods enthusiastically.

  
  


Everything aches when he sneaks into the living room. He's so exhausted, but he needs to finish a few more things. Minhyung is dead to the world, happy and worn-out. If he's quick, Minhyung won't even notice that he's gone.

Around four am he crawls back into bed, curling up against Minhyung.

When the alarm rings, he can barely move. Someone turns off the alarm, and when he finally pries his eyes open, he's looking at Minhyung's concerned face.

“Sweetheart, you look awful.”

A grumble leaves his throat when he tries to sit up, only to be pushed back onto the bed.

“You're staying home today.”

He really can't, because he has classes, but Minhyung's tone leaves no room for arguments.

“Notes.” he whispers, latching on to Minhyung's sleeve. “Need to take notes.”

“What?” Minhyung stares at him in confusion before he catches his drift. “I'll ask Damson to get us notes, okay? I'm going to stay here with you.”

He doesn't want Minhyung to miss class, but he also doesn't want to be alone. So he curls up under the covers, hoping that everything will be better in a few moments.

“Sweetheart.” Minhyung's voice calls out to him, pulling back the covers. A steaming cup of tea is in his hand. But Jeonghan doesn't even remember him leaving. “Here. I made some chamomile tea.”

Carefully, he helps Jeonghan sit up and holds the cup to his lips; watching as Jeonghan slowly sips the tea.

“You just rest, Hannie.” Minhyung says as he helps Jeonghan lay back down. “I'll be here with you.”

The warmth of the tea spreads through him. Minhyung settles down next to him, softly stroking his hair and murmuring sweet nothings. His heavy eyelids are not helping at all, and within moments he's asleep in Minhyung's arms.

~~

For the first time in what feels like months he has room to breathe. His paper has been going well, Professor Kwon left for yet another guest lecture, and all transcripts are done. When he told Minhyung about it, the other had been ecstatic. Their date night had been confined to Minhyung's apartment for too long. When Jeonghan returned from university after the last class for the week, Minhyung had been waiting for him. First he'd prepared dinner and pampered Jeonghan with a massage. Then, when they laid curled up on the couch, he'd told him that he had a surprise for him and to pack a bag for three days.

The morning of their trip, Minhyung pulled up in an old car that he must have borrowed from someone.

“So, where are we going?” He asks after putting his bag in the car and helping Minhyung store the luggage.

“Wait and see.” Minhyung says, ushering Jeonghan to his seat.

The drive itself can't have been that long, Jeonghan reasons, but not even twenty minutes into the ride, he drifts off. He's not sure if that's a testament of Minhyung's driving skills or his own exhaustion. When he wakes up, it's to the sound of seagulls and the smell of salt in the air.

“We're here.” Minhyung's grin is infectious, bright and full of expectations. “Do you like it? It's ours for the next few days.”

“Are you serious?” Jeonghan asks, looking around in awe.

“Yes. The house belongs to a friend of my parents. We used to come here often when I was younger. Ahjussi said that we can use it whenever we want, as long as we clean up afterwards.” Minhyung explains, obviously happy with Jeonghan's reaction. “And we need to let him know in time when we want to visit.”

“Really?” Jeonghan whispers in disbelief.

The house sits on a hill, overlooking a small village. It's old, but someone must be taking great care of it. The garden is full of lavender and wildflowers.

“Yeah.” Minhyung confirms again. His grin is wide as he nudges Jeonghan towards the front door. “Go on. We need to unpack.”

They rush through unpacking their luggage, storing everything in the master bedroom for the moment. Just like the outside, the inside of the house is well-cared for. The wooden floor creaks with every step they take,and Minhyung jokes about how it'd be impossible to play hide and seek in this house. After they air out the house it smells like sea and lavender. For a split second, Jeonghan imagines living in this house forever.

  
  


“We need to do some shopping.” Minhyung says, watching Jeonghan take a look at the little knick-knacks that can be found on shelves all over the house. “Sweetheart, we need food.”

“Huh? Oh, okay.” Tearing his eyes away from a handmade miniature boat, he turns to look at Minhyung. In quick steps he crosses over to Minhyung and draws him into a kiss. Minhyung's arms wrap around his waist, and he releases a happy sigh. “It's wonderful. Thank you.”

“Anything for you.” Minhyung says, staring deeply into his eyes. And once again Jeonghan feels like Minhyung would give him the world if he asked.

“Will you cook dinner then?” And Minhyung bursts into laughter, pulling him into another kiss before letting go.

“I'll take care of lunch and dinner, if that means you won't try to make them into chemistry experiments.” Minhyung says, intertwining their fingers, pulling Jeonghan to the front door while he sputters in fake indignance.

“First of all, you ate all of them.” Jeonghan retorts as he slips on his shoes, ignoring Minhyung's 'Because I love you'. “Second of all, you asked me to cook for you.”

“That's because I thought you knew what you were doing.” Minhyung replies, holding the door open for Jeonghan to slip outside.

“And then you asked me to cook for you. Again.” Jeonghan continues on.

“Because I thought it was an accident!” Minhyung says.

The way to the village isn't too long, but long enough for them to bicker until they reach the bottom of the hill. At least, Jeonghan won't have to take care of any meals, since Minhyung always prepares breakfast as well.

The village is not very big at all, Jeonghan realizes when they make it down the hill. A few stores are lined up next to each other, and some children are running around, screaming at each other as they throw water balloons at each other. It's a picture-perfect idyll.

An elderly shop owner greets Minhyung by name as they approach, and they make smalltalk while Jeonghan lets himself get distracted by the playing children.

“Hannie?” Minhyung calls him. “Which one do you prefer?”

“What?” His confusion makes the shop owner chuckle, and he points to two fish. “Oh, they both look delicious. Which one do you recommend?”

The elderly man packs up the fish he prefers, and falls back into his chatter with Minhyung. It's not surprising that Minhyung knows him, and a part of him wishes he could join their conversation, but they both seem so engrossed that he turns his focus back to the children.

Suddenly, there's the sound of bells and bleating as a herd of sheep descends upon the village. The stampede of overgrown balls of wool seems endless and Jeonghan finds himself completely entranced by the bleating mob. After what seems like forever, the herd makes its way up the hill, taking a path near the house they're staying at.

“Sweetheart.” A voice whispers in his ear, making him jump, then he whips around to face a grinning Minhyung. “I'm done.”

The groceries are safely stored in a bag, but there's not just fish, but also vegetables and other things in the bag.

“When did you-?”

“While you were hypnotized by the sheep.” Minhyung chuckles.

“I was not hypnotized!”

“Of course not.” Minhyung agrees pleasantly. “So you don't want to see where they graze later?”

There's nothing interesting about watching sheep with their fluffy looking wool, silly faces, and loud bleats, eat grass, Jeonghan tells himself as he tries to hold Minhyung's amused gaze. He's about to pout when a shepherd calmly walks down the road, carefully carrying a little lamb in his arms. Somehow he manages to keep a straight face despite being confronted with such cuteness, but Minhyung has already seen through him.

“Maybe.” He admits, letting Minhyung sling an arm around his shoulders. “But only if they're nearby. I'm not climbing that hill twice.”

  
  


Said hill looks like it's not very steep at the first glance, but as they make their way up there's a steady rise. By the time they have made it back to the house, Minhyung has taken Jeonghan's hand in a tight grip as he pulls him to the front door.

“Can we see the sheep tomorrow?” He can't help but whine. His muscles are sore, and even though he finally got a good night's sleep, he's still exhausted.

For a moment it seems as if Minhyung is going to say no. But after giving Jeonghan a once-over, he nods.

“Of course.” Minhyung says, guiding him into the kitchen. “I'm sorry, sweetheart. You looked so cute when you were staring at them. I kind of forgot how exhausted you must be.”

“It's fine.” Jeonghan reassures him, watching as Minhyung sorts through their groceries and storing most things in an ancient-looking fridge.

“We can visit the sheep tomorrow.” The fridge squeals in protest when Minhyung tries to pry the freezer compartment open. “Or we could spend all day in the garden. Or I could spend all day pampering you.”

“All of that sounds great.” The thought of doing nothing and simply enjoying the day sounds like something out of a fairy tale.

“How about you take a nice, long bath while I prepare some food. And then we can cuddle for a bit? I could give you a massage...”

“Yes, please!” His sore legs would be eternally grateful for a long soak and a massage. “But what about you?”

“Well, I was hoping that maybe tomorrow you could give me a massage?” The hopeful look on Minhyung's face is enough for Jeonghan to pull him into a kiss. “Is that a yes?”

“It is.” Jeonghan nods, rubbing their noses together. “Now, if you'll excuse me. There's a bath tub with my name on it.”

“Pretty sure it doesn't.” Minhyung retorts, but lets it go anyway.

“It absolutely does!” Jeonghan insists, blowing Minhyung a kiss as he leaves to fetch a clean set of clothes. On the way to the bathroom he spies on Minhyung, currently in a heated discussion with what seems to be a rice cooker, and immediately gets caught when Minhyung hears him snicker. Still snickering, he rushes to the bathroom, avoiding Minhyung's quick hands that are most certainly going to tickle him, if Minhyung catches him.

The bathroom door is rather difficult to open, but he manages to get inside anyway, and is greeted by a stunning sight.

A large, ceramic bathtub sits in the middle of the room, a golden faucet sparkles in the light. Along the right side of the room is a shower designed after a waterfall, and for a split second Jeonghan is tempted to take a scalding hot shower instead. In the end the bathtub wins. The shiny faucet might have something to do with it, but no one's there to judge him for choosing the fancy bathtub.

The bath bomb he throws into the bubbling water dyes it a matching golden tone and sparkles with glitter. He doesn't remember buying it, but chances are that he just forgot about it, and Minhyung put it in his bag for him.

The water has the perfect temperature when he sinks into the tub. A loud sigh of relief leaves his lips as the heat seeps through his muscles. As usual, he struggles not to doze off. Exhaustion and warm water are his worst enemies. Somehow, he stays awake and cleans himself, but soon realizes that the glitter is sticking to him no matter how hard he scrubs. At least, no one but Minhyung is going to see him reenact a teen vampire movie his sister adores.

“Hannie?” Minhyung calls from outside, drawing Jeonghan from his musings about vampires and sparkling nonsense. “Your phone has been ringing. Do you want me to pick it up or should I just let it ring?”

“Of all times.” Jeonghan mutters under his breath, closing his eyes and resting against the tub.

“Babe?” He hears Minhyung call again.

“I'll call them back.” Jeonghan tells him.

“What?” Minhyung asks, opening the door and stepping inside. “Woah...”

“Nice, isn't it?”

Phone still held in hand, Minhyung gives a sharp nod. His eyes are completely focused on Jeonghan and he can't help but wink at him.

“Yeah.” But it's so obvious that Minhyung cares less about the bathroom and a whole lot more about Jeonghan's sparkling skin. “It's gorgeous.”

“The bath is big enough for two.” Stretching lasciviously, he watches as Minhyung swallows hard. The greedy look in Minhyung's eyes makes him grin, but he quickly motions for Minhyung to stop when he takes a step towards the tub. “Maybe tomorrow after we visited the sheep? If you're good.”

The hunger on Minhyung's face as he approaches despite Jeonghan's words, makes Jeonghan's ears heat up. There's something oddly satisfying about being wanted so badly, he thinks, as Minhyung comes to a stop in front of the tub. But instead of taking off his clothes and joining Jeonghan in the tub, he reaches out and holds Jeonghan's nape in a firm grip. Unable to suppress a shiver, Jeonghan lets himself be drawn closer to Minhyug. He seems impossibly bigger as he leans over Jeonghan, looking down at him with the same predatory look that Jeonghan has seen on him before.

“I take you to this lovely place and promise to pamper you,” Minhyung begins, voice eerily calm. “And you tease me like this?”

“What do you mean?” Jeonghan asks, running a finger along the neckline of Minhyung's shirt, watching as his pupils dilate. Brushing a hand through his wet hair, he strokes Minhyung's hand, and gives it a little squeeze.

“You're a menace!” Minhyung complains, going in for a kiss, only for Jeonghan to dodge his lips at the last second. “Hannie!”

“Only if you're good.” Jeonghan singsongs. There's a certain rush that the power he holds over Minhyung gives him. 

But sometimes, as Jeonghan is forcefully reminded, it's a very fine line of who is in control.

“Brat.” Minhyung almost growls. His grip on Jeonghan's nape tightens and Jeonghan realizes that he might have underestimated the situation. “Do I have to teach you how to behave again?”

Memories of Minhyung's birthday and the mind-blowing marathon sex they had flood his mind. As much as he likes to have Minhyung's full attention, to be desired by him, he's not sure he can handle it in his current, exhausted state.

“I'm sorry, Minhyung. You've been so good to me.” Jeonghan tells him, giving Minhyung an appreciative look with big doe eyes. “I'll behave. I promise, I'll be good.”

That seems to have the opposite effect than what Jeonghan intended. Their noses almost brush as Minhyung looms over him, thoroughly appraising Jeonghan's body.

“I don't think you mean it.” Minhyung's voice is soft as he uses his grip on Jeonghan's nape to tilt his head back and expose his neck.

“I do!” Jeonghan insists, cursing himself for forgetting Minhyung's high libido. Maybe Minhyung's weakness will get him out of this, or it'll make it worse. “I'll be good, Oppa. Really.”

“Hm...” Minhyung hums, seemingly considering Jeonghan's words. “Prove it.”

Clearly, it had only served to make it worse. Caught between a rock and hard place, Jeonghan demurely lowers his eyes.

“How?”

“Well, tonight when we watch a movie, you can sit on my lap and keep me nice and hard until I'm satisfied.” Minhyung muses. “And then I'll pamper you.”

He'll never understand where Minhyung's obsession stems from, but he has hinted several times that he'd like to try it again. It's not that Jeonghan is completely opposed to it, but the memory of how odd it had felt, despite feeling good at the end, sits in the back of his head. He should have known better than to rile Minhyung up.

“Or?” Jeonghan asks, making sure to sound timid.

“Would you rather I tie you to the bed and make love to you until you beg for mercy?”

The dangerous glint in Minhyung's eyes makes it abundantly clear that he needs to tread carefully. He's already played himself and doesn't want to make it worse.

“Movie, please.” He replies, knowing that he's lost. Gaze still lowered, he tilts his head to the side as Minhyung leans even closer, leaving his neck for Minyung to suck on his skin. The sound Minhyung makes when he leaves a love bite on his neck, causes him to shiver in anticipation. He might not be too fond of having to sit still in Minhyung's lap for an hour, but he knows that Minhyung will take good care of him.

“Alright, baby.” Minhyung's smile is benevolent as he draws Jeonghan in for a kiss that is all tongue and teeth, that leaves Jeonghan gasping when Minhyung finally pulls away. “I'll prepare food. You just relax, okay?”

Confused and strangely aroused, Jeonghan can only nod, watching Minhyung leave with a happy grin on his face and Jeonghan's phone in his hand.

  
  


The movie room, as Minhyung calls it, seems to be the owner's favorite room. While the rest of the house has been decorated in a charming, but mostly traditional style, the movie room is designed for comfort with a touch of luxury. A dark brown leather couch dominates the room with its sheer size, making the generous coffee table in front of it look tiny. Two dressers are placed along the side of the wall, where a very large TV is mounted.

His sound of pure amazement is answered by Minhyung's chuckle as he enters the room behind him.

“Impressive, right? Ahjussi is a movie freak. Couldn't care less about cooking, but movies? Nothing but the best is good enough.”

“I can see that.” Jeonghan says, as he sits down on the couch, staring in awe at the TV. It almost feels as if they're in a cinema.

“Is there anything you want to watch? The library should be full.” Minhyung tells him, as he goes around the room and closes the blinds. “Knowing Ahjussi there's pretty much every movie in the whole world in there.”

Even though there's no real point in picking a movie, Jeonghan still picks up the remote and starts searching for a movie. A lot of them look pretty interesting, but he keeps turning them down when he sees the run time. Eventually Minhyung sits down next to him, gently plucking the remote from his hand.

“Having trouble deciding? How about Lord of the Rings?”

“But Minhyung, you said...” Jeonghan doesn't know how to phrase it. There's no way that he can sit through a movie as long as that.

“Don't think you can handle it?” Minhyung asks with a smirk.

“No.” Jeonghan admits, hoping that Minhyung will let him get away with it.

“You're right, baby. That'd be too much for you.” Minhyung says, leaning in for a quick kiss. “How about this one? Doeorak? It's a horror movie.”

The runtime is still much longer than Jeonghan would like it to be, but he can tell by the look in Minhyung's eyes that he's already decided.

“Sounds good.”

“I promise I'll keep you safe.” Minhyung says as he sets everything up. “You don't need to be scared.

“Okay.” Once again, Jeonghan makes sure that his voice is soft, hoping to appeal to Minhyung's gentle, protective side.

“Now then.” Minhyung starts, and Jeonghan can already tell what's coming. “Be good and take off your pants for me.”

There's no way around this, might as well try to enjoy it. With quick movements he slips out of his pants and underwear, feeling oddly exposed despite the fact that Minhyung has seen him naked countless times.

“Beautiful.” Minhyung hums, pulling Jeonghan in for another, rougher kiss. “You're so stunning, baby. So lovely for me.”

The praise makes his ears heat up, and he loops his arms around Minhyung's neck, drawing him in for another kiss. They spend a few minutes leisurely making out, and Jeonghan can feel the familiar heat crawling into his belly when Minhyung's clever hands stroke him in all the right places.

“Sweetheart,” Minhyung murmurs against his lips, and Jeonghan pulls back a bit to look at Minhyung. “Go to the coffee table and bend over, yeah? Keep your eyes forward.”

With burning ears Jeonghan does as he is told, perfectly aware of the view that Minhyung is getting. The coffee table is polished to perfection, and Jeonghan hopes that the owner will never find out what they are up to. Behind him Minhyung is rustling around, placing something besides Jeonghan with a loud thump.

“Lovely.” Minhyung mutters, running his hands down Jeonghan's back. “So lovely for me.”

All Jeonghan can do is keep his eyes forward and wait. Excitement and anxiety churn in his stomach in equal parts.

A loud gasp leaves him when Minhyung fingers start poking and prodding at his entrance, slick and cool with lube. Willing himself to relax, he arches his back, giving Minhyung better access and earning a pleased hum in return. His own fingers cling to the edge of the coffee table, when Minhyung works finger after finger into him. Minhyung's long fingers stretch and stroke him with the knowledge of someone intimately acquainted with his body, leaving him aching and dripping in a matter of minutes.

“So good.” Minhyung praises him, and Jeonghan wants to sigh in relief. Then Minhyung pulls his fingers out and retrieves whatever he placed next to Jeonghan. “Now, I want to try something, okay?”

“What is it?” He doesn't dare to look back, no matter how much he wants to.

“Just some restraints, okay? For your legs.” Minhyung explains as he trails his fingers up Jeonghan's flanks.

“Do I have to?” Jeonghan asks, and Minhyung pauses.

“Don't you want to be good for me?” There's an edge to his voice that Jeonghan doesn't like, so he vigorously shakes his head.

“I'll be good.”

“Thank you, baby doll.” Cool leather wraps around his thighs, one by one, before another set of leather cuffs is pulled around his ankles. They're tight, but not too tight. “Now, let's move to the couch, shall we?”

Gently, Minhyung helps him stand up, leading Jeonghan to the couch. He settles down behind Jeonghan, pulling him onto his lap. A small shiver of anticipation runs through Jeonghan as he feels Minhyung's length at his entrance.

  
  


“So pretty.” Minhyung murmurs over the sounds of slicking up his own erection. “My pretty baby.”

“Yours.” Jeonghan agrees, just as Minhyung starts pulling him down onto his cock. The stretch is delicious after all the preparation, and he has to hold back from rocking himself back onto Minhyung. The memory of last time still etched firmly into his mind.

Just like before it's a weird feeling, heavy and full. Minhyung is almost hitting the right spots, but not quite. Frustration crawls under his skin. He has to be still, he has to.

All the air leaves him when Minhyung gives an experimental thrust, snickering when Jeonghan cries out.

“Be good for Oppa.” He reminds Jeonghan, as if he didn't just do that on purpose.

“Yes, Oppa.” Jeonghan replies, about to lean back against Minhyung, when Minhyung's hands find the cuffs again. There's an odd metallic sound, and Jeonghan realizes that he can't straighten his legs anymore, the cuffs effectively locking his legs into a bent position.

He's about to protest when Minhyung pulls him back against his chest. The lack of control makes Jeonghan sink heavily against Minhyung, and he lets out a loud groan when Minhyung's cock brushes against his prostate.

“Stay like this.” Minhyung tells him, and Jeonghan shudders as Minhyung starts the movie.

He won't be able to handle this. It's too much. There is no way. He can't.

“Baby,” comes Minhyung's voice, low and dangerous. “If you don't behave I'll cuff your hands too. Do you want that? I can do that right now.”

“No. I'm fine.” Jeonghan replies, willing himself to relax.

“Good.” Is all Minhyung says, leaning back even further and dragging Jeonghan with him.

All he can do is try to focus on the movie, but it doesn't take long for him to drift off. Too exhausted by the situation to watch the movie, too full and heavy to concentrate on Minhyung. So he lets his mind wander.

  
  
  
  


Little waves of pleasure break through the haze. Repeating again and again. His head lolls to the side when he feels a sharp pain in his neck. His legs are shaking in their restraints, he notes absently when he looks at them, but he can't really feel them. He can't see his hands, but he can feel a tight grip around his elbows, pulling his arms back.

Behind him Minhyung is praising him, biting and kissing his neck, as he pistons in and out of Jeonghan like his life depends on it. The drag of Minhyung's cock inside of him is verging on painful, too hard and too rough, but still hits just the right spot to make Jeonghan feel good.

A loud keen draws him back into full awareness, and he realizes that it's his own voice, crying like a wounded animal. His limbs are on fire, the restraints dig into his skin, leaving angry red welts, but they feel oh so good when Minhyung thrusts into him, an addicting combination of pleasure and pain he's learned to enjoy. Minhyung's death grip on his arms, makes him arch his back, giving Minhyung the right angle to drag against his prostate with every thrust.

“So good, so good!” Minhyung growls into his skin as he bucks up into Jeonghan again. “So good for me!”

“Minhyung.” A loud sob breaks free from his throat. He's so tantalizingly close. Just a bit more. Just a little bit. “Close! Please! I need...”

He doesn't know what he needs, but Minhyung certainly does. His thrusts come to an abrupt stop, and Jeonghan whines when Minhyung slips out of him.

“Oppa, no! Please!”

With one quick move Minhyung urges Jeonghan to lay down on the couch, facing him. As soon as Jeonghan realizes his arms are free, he reaches out to Minhyung, pulling him into a fierce kiss. His legs are trapped in those annoying restraints, so he can't wrap his legs around Minhyung to pull him close. So he bucks up his hips, rubbing his erection against Minhyung's stomach.

Strong hands wrap around his middle, pressing him tight against Minhyung as he slides back inside.

“Want to see you.” Minhyung huffs when he resumes his thrusting.

There's not much Jeonghan can do, but moan and try to meet Minhyung's hips. Every thrust sparks a little bit of pleasure in his belly, and he wraps his arms around Minhyung's shoulders, pressing his face into the arch of Minhyung's neck.

“Please...” He murmurs against Minhyung's neck, leaving little kisses along a vein.

“Baby!” Minhyung grunts, his thrusts picking up speed and force, and Jeonghan has to hold tightly onto Minhyung. Every move is so deep inside of him, filling him so nicely and it feels so good, despite the tiny spikes of pain.

“Touch me!” Jeonghan begs, wiggling his hips, rubbing his length against Minhyung's stomach. “Please touch me!”

The world goes dark when Minhyung finally wraps his hand around him, stroking him in time with his thrusts. A high whine leaves his lips when the pressure in his belly spills over and he comes so hard that spots dance across his vision.

After a few more rough thrusts, Minhyung comes groaning loudly, spilling inside Jeonghan, riding out his own orgasm with hard thrusts into Jeonghan's pliant body. Too exhausted to protest, Jeonghan lays there, holding onto Minhyung until his hips cease.

“Hannie,” Minhyung groans into his ear, giving it a nip. “You're so good for me. So beautiful. So good for Oppa.”

After what feels like eternity, Minhyung sits back and pulls out, staring at Jeonghan. A bright blush colours Jeonghan's face when he realizes that Minhyung is watching his cum trickle out of Jeonghan, but the restraints make it impossible to close his legs.

“Minhyung!” He whines, covering himself with his hands. “Don't stare!”

One of Minhyung's big hands wraps around his wrists, pulling his hands away. The other hand traces Jeonghan's entrance, and he can feel himself twitch. Seemingly fascinated, Minhyung's fingers press into him, making Jeonghan jerk with oversensitivity.

“Don't” Jeonghan gasps, trying to wiggle away. “Too much!”

But Minhyung doesn't seem to hear him as he presses another finger inside, feeling around.

“You're so full.” Minhyung remarks, looking pleased with himself.

“What did you expect?” Jeonghan whines, futilely trying to close his legs and hide himself.

“All mine...” Minhyung hums, withdrawing his fingers. “I wish I could just keep it there.”

Of course Minhyung would have another weird fetish he never mentioned before.

“Minhyung, will you please undo the restraints?” Jeonghan asks. “I've been good, right?”

“So good.” Minhyung says, fingers trailing along the restraints. “I love seeing you like this. So open for me.”

“I'd be open for you without restraints, you know?” Jeonghan tells him seriously. It's not that he minds being tied up too much, but he just doesn't think it's necessary when they're completely fine without them.

“I know.” Minhyung chuckles, pressing a kiss to Jeonghan's nose before undoing the restraints. He hesitates when he sees the angry red marks. “Oh sweetheart. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have tied them so tight.”

Pinpricks run up and down Jeonghan's legs as he tries to stretch them. They will hurt like hell tomorrow.

“I'm going to get some ointment.” Minhyung says, quickly rushing out of the room, making a strange picture with his naked butt and shirt sticking to him.

  
  


The pleasant softness of his orgasm slowly leaves, and the aches in his body make themselves known. It'll be okay, he tells himself. They're here to rest, and after visiting the sheep tomorrow, they can relax and enjoy themselves.

  
  


Sleep and exhaustion are starting to override the aches, and he closes his eyes for a couple of minutes, just until Minhyung is back.

  
  


Despite their activities last night, Jeonghan feels surprisingly refreshed when he wakes up the next morning. Confused how he got into bed and into his pajamas, but refreshed.

A loud snore sounds from Minhyung, curled tightly around Jeonghan, snoring right into his ear.

“Minhyung.” Jeonghan croons, smiling to himself when Minhyung curls himself closer to Jeonghan, trying to evade wakefulness. “Minhyung, it's time to get up.”

“Hannie?” Minhyung's voice is rough with sleep. “'timesit?”

“Time for you to make me breakfast.” Jeonghan singsongs, stroking Minhyung's hair. “Did you carry me to bed last night?”

The unintelligible grunt that follows, sounds vaguely affirmative. Maybe he'll just let him sleep for a few more minutes Jeonghan compromises, settling back into Minhyung's grasp and relaxing. After all, the sheep can wait.

The second time he wakes up, it's to Minhyung stroking his hair with an affectionate smile. The cup of coffee in Minhyung's hand smells delicious, and he's eager to grab it, taking a long drag. His happy little sigh makes Minhyung's smile widen further.

“Good morning, Hannie.” The gentle kiss against his forehead makes Jeonghan melt a little, and he happily receives Minhyung's affections. “Breakfast is ready. Are you okay to walk?”

The way Minhyung asks, with burning red ears, as if he'd never pulled anything remotely kinky before, is leaving him wide open for teasing. And who is Jeonghan to say no to that?

“I don't know.” He whines pitifully, hiding his grin behind the coffee mug at Minhyung's startled face. There's only a small amount of soreness, not utterly unpleasant and not unusual, but what Minhyung doesn't know, won't take away the opportunity to get even more spoiled. “You'll have to carry me.”

And of course Minhyung does. Carries him all the way into the kitchen for breakfast, into the bath, and later all the way up the hill to the sheep. 

Maybe, Jeonghan thinks, maybe if he just tries hard enough his affection for Minhyung might become more. 

  
  
  


~~

The tiny figures on the screen are starting to swim before his eyes. Rubbing them does only a little good. The tiny figures stop for a moment before resuming their happy little dance.

With a heavy sigh, Jeonghan pushes himself away from his computer. He can't afford to take a break right now, but his vision makes it impossible to read. The plushy armchair professor Kwon loves is screaming at him to take a seat. Just rest his eyes for a few minutes.

But he doesn't have time for that, so a coffee will have to do for now. The papers on the desk glare balefully at him when he gets up. He'd love to put those annoying papers in the shredder, but professor Kwon would just hand him some more. Just like he had not too long ago. Right as Jeonghan had been about to leave.

Humming to himself, he sets out on the hunt for coffee. The vending machine outside the library should be closest, but also has the highest chance of having been ransacked by desperate students preparing to work through the night to finish whatever grueling task they've been handed by their professor. If that one has run dry, he could still make a quick detour to the small coffee shop nearby and get a hot chocolate with a triple shot of espresso, Jeonghan muses, then decides to skip the vending machine altogether. The pull of hot chocolate with triple espresso is too strong for him to ignore.

  
  


The taste of hot chocolate and caffeine is like ambrosia. Nothing can ever beat it. Except maybe the winter version when the barista will throw in a few mini marshmallows.

The only downside of the impending sugar and caffeine high is that his stomach immediately starts to protest. Looking back he realizes that his last meal had been some time in the morning, and that food had been the last thing on his mind when professor Kwon handed him a stack of papers.

Strawberry cake, as tiny as the piece the coffee shop sells is, is always his go-to choice, but perhaps not the best combined with hot chocolate. After staring at his limited options, Jeonghan decides that food is definitely not a priority and that getting those papers done is more important.

The office is just as he left it. No sign that professor Kwon had returned while he'd been gone. At least the amount of work hasn't increased.

The documents on the table sit still and reproachful. Disregarding his stomach's protests, he chugs down the last of his hot chocolate. His phone gives a small chime, but he really doesn't have time for it right now. Besides, Minhyung doesn't expect him to come over today, since his sister wanted to spend some time with her brother. He shouldn't be feeling so relieved, but he can't help it. The idea of having some time to himself is almost out of this world. Even if he has to wade through the sea of papers his professor left behind. That only serves to make his soft, cozy bed seem even sweeter.

He lets his neck crack a few times, hoping to stop the oncoming headache, and gets back to work.

  
  


It's dark outside when he finally leaves the office. The only students remaining are the night owls who prefer late classes or poor souls who signed up for some project only to find out that work hours have been moved. Occasionally there are other assistants, overworked and tired, crawling out of their respective professor's office in hopes of catching a few hours of sleep before dragging themselves back to university.

There's at least the small mercy that he doesn't have classes in the morning, Jeonghan can't help but think as he watches another dead on his feet assistant leave professor Kim's classes, knowing that the walking corpse has classes at eight. Their eyes meet and they share a look of commiseration. It goes unspoken that they have the other's deepest sympathies.

  
  


“Jeonghan-hyung?” He hears someone call behind him. “What are you doing here?”

“Shouldn't I be asking you that?” Jeonghan asks, blinking his blurry sight away to focus on Seokmin.A bit further away he can see Wonwoo and Mingyu walking up to them.

“We were waiting for Wonwoo to finish classes. Gyu lost a bet and now he has to cook whatever Wonwoo demands.” Seokmin explains, gesturing behind him. “What about you?”

“Had to finish some papers for professor Kwon.” Jeonghan says when Mingyu and Wonwoo join them.

“This late?” Mingyu asks incredulously. He's never been in Jeonghan's position, so of course he couldn't know how much professors loved to drop last minute work on their assistants. So he just nods, but has to hold back a sudden yawn. As if on cue his stomach growls loudly. His three friends exchange looks. “Do you want to have dinner with us?”

The offer is truly tempting. But then he'd have to drag his body back home somehow.

“It'll be fun!” Seokmin exclaims, already reaching for Jeonghan's bag to carry it for him. “It's been so long since we got to hang out.”

“You don't have to.” Wonwoo says, obviously having noticed Jeonghan's hesitation. “It's okay.”

Mentally saying goodbye to his soft, warm bed, he puts on a bright smile, and wills his exhaustion away.

“No, it's fine.” The varying looks of excitement are endearing. “How can I say no to you? Of course I'll come.”

  
  


Their apartment has changed since the last visit. New photos decorate the entrance, and Jeonghan stops to admire them. With a fair bit of guilt he realizes that it has been quite a while since his last visit. Most of his time is being taken up by university and Minhyung recently.

He lets himself be led into the kitchen. Seokmin chatters on about the song he'd been working on with Jihoon, while Wonwoo and Mingyu pick everything from the fridge to make tteokbokki. They all automatically follow their unspoken rule: Mingyu cooks and they listen to his orders. The rule has yet to fail them.

It's so easy to fall back into their routine. The little banter and the teasing, and the carefully phrased, but serious discussions. He never even realized how much he missed this.

“Everything okay?” Wonwoo's quiet voice draws him out of his musings.

“Yeah.” Jeonghan puts on his best smile, but even so Wonwoo doesn't seem to believe him. “Just a bit tired.”

“You've been working a lot lately.” Seokmin butts in. “You should relax. We'll cook and you can watch us.”

“Seokmin,” Jeonhan begins, but is quickly ushered to sit at the small dinner table. “You're only worried that I'll mess up the food.”

“Never!” Seokmin vehemently denies the accusations. Before they can fall into their usual comedy, Mingyu turns around and shoots Seokmin a glare. Raising his hands in defense, Seokmin quickly scurries back to the counter.

For some reason it's very relaxing to watch his friend prepare a meal in the kitchen. Their quiet discussions and the cozy atmosphere is something that he's been missing. Their quick meals together have become too rare lately. He needs to find a way to balance university, Minhyung, and his friends so that everyone will be happy.

As usual dinner is a lively affair with Seokmin and Mingyu arguing over who stole whose hoodie and the magically disappearing food, while Wonwoo and Jeonghan fondly roll their eyes at their antics. It's so familiar and comforting that Jeonghan forgets about his exhaustion and headache for a while. The food is delicious, but his stomach is loudly scolding him for not eating earlier, and tiny waves of nausea roll through him until his stomach is done complaining.

  
  


“I'm glad you could join us.” Wonwoo says to him when they huddle in front of the TV to watch Ring for what is probably the hundredth time. Even so, Seokmin still screams at all scary scenes, and Minhyung will pretend not to be scared, and let Seokmin hide behind him.

“Me too.” Jeonghan replies, watching as Seokmin predictably moves closer and closer to Mingyu as the movie progresses.

“I know you've been busy, and it's okay if you don't have time to reply to our messages.” Confused, Jeonghan turns to look at Wonwoo, but the younger one is focused on the screen. “But it's nice to hang out again. I'd like it if we could do it more often.”

Something warm settles in Jeonghan's chest, and he leans against Wonwoo. It's been a while since they had the chance to talk, just the two of them, and Wonwoo's admission makes him both happy and sad. He definitely has to figure out a way to spend more time with his friends. Maybe if he crams more work into Tuesdays, he can meet up with them on Wednesdays? Or maybe Thursdays?

Seokmin's high pitch scream startles him so badly that he all but jumps into Wonwoo's lap, much to both of their surprise. Instead of moving away, Jeonghan stays still as Wonwoo's arms wrap around him. It's not common for them to cuddle like that, preferring casual touches over this, but right in this moment Jeonghan doesn't want anything else than to be close to his friend – and Wonwoo seems to share his sentiment.

  
  


He wakes up to a cool hand on his forehead. Blinking away the sudden tears through an onslaught of a severe headache, he tries to sit up. Gentle hands push him back down, and he notices that he is no longer with Wonwoo, but in someone's bed. From outside voices drift in and out, he can make out words like “fever” and “passed out”, but he doesn't know who's speaking. He wants to sit up and ask who's sick, but is being pushed back down again.

“It's okay.” Someone tells him. “You're running a fever, so we put you in my bed.”

Oh? He's the one who's sick?

“You've been working too hard.” The same voice says again. “I wish you would just talk to us. We could help you.”

He wants to reassure them that he's fine, that he's got it under control, but a wave of cold makes his teeth shatter, and he curls up under the blanket. Someone tugs the blanket away and presses a spoon full of syrupy sweet medicine against his lips. Obediently he swallows, then is allowed to curl back up.

The person next to him starts humming, slowly stroking his back until Jeonghan falls asleep.  
  
  


~~

There’s a dark cloud hanging over Minhyung’s head when Jeonghan enters the apartment. He watches as Minhyung paces in the living room for a few minutes, before carefully approaching Minhyung.

  
  


“Stressed?” Jeonghan asks, already knowing the answer. The stress lines on Minhyung's face are obvious, and the way his jaw clenches is a dead giveaway.

“Yes.” Minhyung bites out, obviously trying not to snap at Jeonghan. Whatever is stressing him, must be bad, because Minhyung never takes his temper out on Jeonghan. Always treating Jeonghan like he's delicate.

“Come here.” Jeonghan takes Minhyung's hand and leads him to the armchair, gently pushing him to sit down before sliding between his legs. “I know the perfect way to destress.”

“Do you?” Minhyung says almost challengingly, but Jeonghan can see the slow rise in pants as he opens the buttons.

“I do, Oppa.” promises with a grin, freeing Minhyung's cock and giving it a few tantalizingly light strokes, before leaning forward and swallowing him down. The loud groan he receives in return is music to his ears.

It only takes a few seconds before Minhyung is fully hard and Jeonghan is bobbing his head up and down, hollowing out his cheeks and dragging his tongue along the underside of Minyhung's shaft, the way he knows Minhyung loves.

“Oh god, Hannie. You feel so good.” The praise makes Jeonghan's skin heat up and suck harder, trying to make Minhyung feel as good as possible.

There's a tug on his hair as Minhyung's hands close around the back of his head.

“Can I,” Minhyung begins, moaning brokenly when Jeonghan chooses that moment to swallow around him. “Sweetheart, please!” Without a warning his hips snap up, thrusting deep down Jeonghan's throat. It's almost too much and Jeonghan wants to back away, trying to breathe, but Minhyung's hands in his hair hold him firmly in place as Minhyung thrusts down his throat again and again. All he can do is relax his throat and let Minhyung use him.

“I love you, I love you.” Minhyung chants above him until his rhythm falters, thrusting once, twice and coming so hard that Jeonghan almost chokes trying to swallow the bitter liquid.

Minhyung doesn't let go immediately, hands firmly holding Jeonghan in place, staring at him with dark eyes full of lust.

“It's not enough.” Minhyung says, finally allowing Jeonghan to get up. “Please, baby. More!”

It's less of a request and more of a demand as Minhyung pushes Jeonghan down onto the carpet, not even bothering to take him to their bedroom. Clever fingers slip under Jeonghan's shirt, pinching and pulling, stroking him in all the right places. Minhyung's mouth descends upon his neck, licking and biting, making Jeonghan's hips twitch, his jeans rubbing against Minhyung's bare cock and Minhyung releases a loud, guttural groan. He roughly pulls down Jeonghan's pants, grinding back down the second the pants are gone, causing delicious friction to run up and down Jeonghan's spine.

“Minhyung!” Jeonghan moans, hips bucking up involuntarily, chasing the pleasure.

Suddenly the hands are gone and he almost complains, but stops when he hears the familiar sound of a cap popping open.

Usually Minhyung loves foreplay, can spend hours making Jeonghan feel good, but today there's no teasing. Instead Minhyung slips one finger inside him, feeling around expertly for a few moments. Before.

“Minhyung! There!” Jeonghan moans as Minhyung presses down on his sweet spot, wiggling, trying to get Minhyung to touch it again.

“Baby,” Minhyung groans, resting his head against Jeonghan's neck as he adds another finger. It's too soon, too much, but he can handle the burn. “I want you.”

Two fingers is too little. They both know, no matter how well Minhyung stretches him, it won't be enough.

“Just one more, okay? Just one more.” Jeonghan reminds him, spreading his legs even further, giving Minhyug better access. Whining when Minhyung pushes in another finger. It's too fast, too rough. It burns so bad. 

He can tell that Minhyung is barely holding on; trying to loosen him up, but being too hasty. The burn lessens bit by bit, and every press against his prostate makes it easier, makes him forget it's even there.

“Hannie, I need you.”

That is the only warning he gets before Minhyung pulls out his fingers, lining himself up and sliding inside. It's as gentle as he can be at the moment, but it still stings and the burn comes back with full force. Instead of giving Jeonghan time to adjust, he pulls back, watching as Jeonghan pants and shakes underneath him, before thrusting back in. 

~~ It hurts.  ~~

After a few misaligned thrusts, Minhyung settles into a position that is bearable, and Jeonghan can finally relax. But then stars start dancing behind Jeonghan's eyelids as Minhyung sets a punishing pace, hitting Jeonghan's prostate spot with each thrust. He's sure that their neighbors can hear him, no matter how hard Jeonghan tries not to scream. Moans and cries spilling from his mouth.

He's dimly aware of Minhyung chanting his name. Then all of a sudden, Minyhung stops, and Jeonghan cries in frustration. He's so close, so very close.

Minhyung's hands close around his knees, dragging Jeonghan's legs over his shoulders. The way he's staring down at Jeonghan makes him shudder. It's like he's being eaten alive. Then Minhyung bends down, lips devouring Jeonghan's, and not for the first time Jeonghan's grateful for his flexibility as Minhyung picks up his pace again. The thrusts feel so much deeper than before and knock the breath out of him every time. His hands are scrambling to find purchase as Minhyung rams into him so hard that he would have been sliding over the floor, if not for Minhyung holding him in place.

He can feel the heat in his belly, building up with every thrust.

“Mine, mine, mine!” He hears Minhyung ranting against his lips, rutting deeply, all sense of control gone.

All he can do is take, moan and sob, until it finally becomes too much and he comes so hard that his legs are shaking.

He must have blacked out for a moment. When he comes back down, Minhyung is slowly thrusting into him, riding out his own orgasm.

“Hannie,” Minhyung murmurs, pressing a kiss against his temple. “I love you so much.”

He's so gentle when he pulls out, so different from before.

“Oh, sweetheart.” He says, checking Jeonghan up and down. “I was too rough. I'm so sorry.”

More kisses are pressed against his temple, cheeks, and lips. Minhyung oh-so-carefully sits up, pulling Jeonghan into his lap. There's a pause and Jeonghan can feel the burn, the imminent soreness.

“I'm going to run you a bath.” Minhyung promises, somehow managing to stand up with Jeonghan in his arms. He'd be impressed, if his hips weren't hurting so much.

  
  


When he catches sight of himself in the bathroom mirror, he looks like some wild animal mauled him. He's covered in marks, his hips are aching, and the burn is back. He watches Minhyung putter around the bathroom, preparing everything for a bubble bath. It hurts, and he’s not sure if he likes this side of Minhyung.

  
  


~~

  
  
  


The shower does little to alleviate his exhaustion, but he promised Joshua and Minghao to meet up. Minhyung is sitting on the couch with the TV blaring in the background. But he's not focused on the TV, not at all.

  
  


“Are you going out again?” 

“Yeah. I'm going to meet up with Shua and Minghao.” He tells Minhyung, walking into the room to give Minhung a quick kiss before leaving.

“Sweetheart,” Minhyung starts, fingers fidgeting with the hem of his shirt. “You've gotten so busy again.”

“Minhyung...”

“No, I get it. They're your friends. They're important.” Minhyung continues. His face is so pale and he's trying too hard to hide how upset he is. “You're...It's just... sorry. I'm being stupid. I know they're just as important to you."

Hot guilt washes over him. Has he really been neglecting Minhyung that much? They've been going on dates and Jeonghan has been making sure that he always answers Minhyung's calls.

“No. I'm sorry.” Jeonghan tells him, grabbing Minhyung's fidgeting hand and lacing their fingers together. 

  
  


Minhyung looks at the clock on the wall, ticking harmlessly away. He threads his hand through Jeonghan's hair, tugging him to his knees. 

“So, how sorry are you?”

  
  
  


He's not even late when he meets up with Joshua and Minghao. His jaw and throat ache, and they both poke fun at his raspy voice, but that quickly changes when they notice how much he struggles to drink his coffee. Every sip feels like lava running down his sore throat, and he has to blink back tears.

“Are you coming down with something?” Minghao's hand is cool against his forehead as he checks Jeonghan's temperature, and he just wants to close his eyes for a bit. “You do feel a bit warm.”

“I'm fine.” He insists. “I don't have a cold. My throat is just sore.”

“Why? What did you do?" Minghao wants to know, clearly not believing him. Not that Jeonghan can blame him. His track record has not been great lately.

The dark red blush that rises up his neck all the way up to his ears is a dead giveaway judging by Joshua's and Minghao's mildly disturbed faces.

“What did he do? Shove sandpaper down your throat?” Joshua snarks. “You sound like you're wasting away from consumption.”

Laughing hurts even worse than the coffee, and the coughing fit that follows makes tears run down his cheeks. Hurriedly, Minghao pushes his own glass of water against Jeonghan's lips. The cool liquid is soothing, but does very little to help with the actual pain.

“I'm okay.” He croaks, waving his hands. “Just sore.”

“From what?” Minghao asks, and Jeonghan exchanges a look with Joshua. “Wait...”

The blush comes back full force and Jeonghan discreetly checks the distance between his seat and the door. Maybe if he makes a run for it and buries himself in work for the next few months, everyone will forget about it. But Joshua has been friends with him long enough to know all his escape plans.

“Han,” Joshua begins carefully, reaching across the table to hold Jeonghan's hand. “What exactly happened? You sound awful."

My boyfriend shoved his dick so far down my throat that I couldn't breathe, would definitely be the wrong answer in this case.

“Nothing. Everything is fine.” Jeonghan rasps out, but finds himself unable to meet his best friend's eyes. He knows what Joshua suspects, but it isn't like that.

“Then why do you sound like someone fucked your throat with a knife?” Minghao asks, and both Jeonghan and Joshua choke at his crass choice of words. Moments like these make Jeonghan wonder if it's a language thing or if Minghao is doing it on purpose.

“I...” Jeonghan begins, trying to come up with an excuse, but falters. The sharp look on Joshua's face makes it very clear that he will not let Jeonghan get away with it. “Minhyung was just a bit rough.”

“A bit rough?” Minghao asks with an icy chill in his voice. 

“It's not that bad.” Jeonghan defends himself. “I'm probably coming down with a cold anyway.”

“Han,” He hates the way Joshua is looking at him. Oh so gently holding his hand, and stroking it with his thumb. “Does he... is he often rough with you?”

The implications make his stomach turn.

“No!” He says, voice breaking, and trying to pull his hand away, but Joshua is not letting go. “It's not- No!”

“Hyung,” As if approaching a spooked animal, Minghao slowly grabs his other hand. “We're sorry. We didn't mean to upset you.”

“Hannie,” Joshua's voice is so, so soft. “You sound really, really bad. We're just worried, okay? If you tell us that it's okay, then it's okay.”

It's a sweet lie, but a lie nonetheless. They all know that they're not going to simply let it go.

  
  


The glass of water sits in front of him where Minghao left it.

The bubbles rise slowly, sliding up the side of the glass. He watches the bubbles rise one by one, mulling over their words. Minhyung has been nothing but a perfect gentleman, always making sure that Jeonghan enjoyed it when they slept together. He could be a bit pushy, and Jeonghan's throat throbs at the reminder of how Minhyung had used him not too long ago, but he supposes that just happens to all couples sometimes. Of course, he's been a bit demanding, but every time he's been a bit too much, he's taken care of Jeonghan, has been exceedingly gentle with him. 

He chews on his tongue. Minhyung is never rough on purpose.

“It...” he has to swallow, but he doesn't understand why his throat feels so tight. “It's okay."

He can see the disappointment and disbelief in their eyes.

“He didn't mean to be rough.” Jeonghan continues. “Usually he's very kind and careful.”

“So that's the first time this happened?” Joshua asks, and Jeonghan wants to be anywhere else, but under the sharp eyes of his best friend. He knows Joshua doesn't think too highly of Minhyung, but he wouldn't...

The time in the living room sits heavy in his mind.

“Yes.” He tells them, but with the way Joshua's fingers tighten around his hand, and Minghao frowns, they don't believe him. “Look, he didn't mean to. I'm going to talk to him and that's it, okay? Stop acting like something's wrong.”

“Okay.” Joshua says, and Minghao shoots him a look. “But you know that if anything happens, you can come to us? If you don't feel safe, we're right here, okay?”

If the ground would open up and swallow him whole, that'd be perfectly fine. He's absolutely mortified at what Joshua is implying.

So he gives a vague nod and focuses on the glass of water again.

Just as Minghao opens his mouth, his absolute favorite Seungkwan spots them in the cafe, and joins them. He immediately picks up on the tension between them, and does his best to lighten the mood.

Miraculously, Joshua and Minghao let him get away with the lie of an oncoming cold.

When he tries to leave under the pretense of not feeling too well, Seungkwan insists on accompanying him home.

“Your home or Minhyung's place?” Seungkwan asks, holding Jeonghan steady.

  
  


He can't bear to see Minhyung again today. He'd be unable to meet his eyes without thinking about the conversation, and Minhyung would instantly know that something happened.

“Home.”

It's a long walk from the cafe to his house. Longer than to Minhyung's apartment. But the implications weigh him down, and he needs a moment to himself. So he lets Seungkwan help him home, lets himself get distracted by his chatter, until they reach the front door.

“Hyung,” Seungkwan calls out to him as he's about to open the front door. “I don't know what they said, but they're probably just worried. We all are. You've been working too hard.”

“Kwanie...” Jeonghan doesn't know what to say. The entire confrontation has him feeling utterly lost.

“If you need anything, give me a call!” Seungkwan says. Jeonghan is so grateful that he's not trying to make him talk.

“Okay.” he whispers. With a satisfied nod, Seungkwan says his goodbye and leaves Jeonghan feeling like he's drowning in his thoughts.

  
  


The lights are turned off on the first floor, but he can hear his sister laughing upstairs. Probably talking to one of her friends.

When he walks up the stairs, the conversation stops and his sister pokes her head out the door to greet him.

It's a testament of how well they know each other when she draws a sharp breath, and pushes him into his room. Like so many times before they settle into bed together, curtains drawn, and backs pressed against each other.

In the darkness of the room he spills everything. How his relationship with Minhyung is looked upon by his friends, how judged he feels sometimes for choosing Minhyung, how exhausting work is. And finally, he dares to breathe, how exhausting Minhyung's sex drive is, how he wants to touch and be with Jeonghan all the time, how he can barely be alone. How it's too much sometimes.

In the dark room, his sister turns around, hugging him close, and he feels a little bit better.

He doesn't dare to tell her about the times Minhyung gets lost in pleasure and pushes just a bit too hard. Doesn't tell her about the living room.

~~

It takes him much longer than he'd like to broach the subject. It's not until Minhyung mentions that he'd like to try something like they did on his birthday that he can't keep pushing the issue away.

  
  


They're curled up on the couch, watching the credits of a romantic comedy that Jeonghan couldn't care less about, but Minhyung had drawn Jeonghan into his lap and spent the entire movie stroking his hair, so he could bear with the boring movie for a while.

The familiar scent of Minhyung's body wash and candles fills his nose. Minhyung's hand moves from his hair to his waist, keeping him safe in Minhyung's lap. He noses at Minhyung's neck, gathering the courage that he needs. He’s safe. Everything is going to be alright.

“Minhyung?” He makes sure that his voice is soft, harmless. “Can we talk?”

Of course Minhyung knows that something is up. He tenses, wrapping both arms around Jeonghan. Anxiety rolls off of him so strong that it's almost palpable.

“Is everything okay?” Minhyung wants to know, and his grip tightens to the point where it almost hurts.

“Do you...” How is he supposed to ask? How is he supposed to tell Minhyung? “Do you remember the time in the living room?”

“You mean when we had sex that afternoon? Yeah.” Minhyung's voice shakes slightly, and his arms tighten ever so slowly.

“I...” Jeonghan wets his lips, placing his own, impeccably shaking hands over Minhyung's. “It hurt. And I... I didn't like it.”

The sharp inhale tells him everything he needs to know.

“I'm sorry, sweetheart.” Minhyung begins, loosening his grip to run his hands along Jeonghan's back. “I lost control. I... I was completely out of line. I never meant to hurt you. I love you! You're my entire world... I... I thought... I hoped that... that it wasn't so bad. I love you so much. I didn't mean to hurt you. I'm so sorry.”

Minhyung's eyes are wet when they meet Jeonghan's. He's never seen Minhyung so upset, so close to tears before, and he feels so very guilty.

“And the time I was going to meet Minghao and Joshua? When you.. when you wanted a quick blowjob?” He asks, fingers playing with Minhyung's shirt.

“Yes?”

“I... It was too rough.” Jeonghan tells him, watching Minhyung carefully. “My throat hurt a lot after that. And Shua and Hao got worried.”

The grip around his waist is back, pressing Jeonghan against Minhyung's chest.

“Why didn't you say something?” Minhyung asks, resting his head against Jeonghan's shoulder. “How was I supposed to know? You should have told me! Why didn't you push me away?”

“I...” Couldn't speak. You wouldn't let go of my hair. You held me in place and I couldn't breathe. “I don't know.”

“You don't know?” Minhyung whispers against his shoulder, voice small and fragile. “Were you that upset with me? Did I hurt you that much?”

He doesn't know what he should say without making things worse. It's obvious that Minhyung feels awful, and he doesn't want to make it worse. He just wants to make sure that Minhyung knows. He can't bear something like that happening.

“I.. just... I'm not angry. But please don't do it again.” Jeonghan implores, gently nudging Minhyung until he looks at him. “Please?”

“Of course!” The hurt in Minhyung's voice makes him feel bad. He knows that Minhyung would never intentionally hurt him, but he needed to make sure. He wouldn't be able to handle another interrogation from any of his friends.

“Then we're good.” Jeonghan tells him, planting a kiss against his cheek, trying to get Minhyung to cheer up.

“Did I...did I ever hurt you? Other than that?” Minhyung asks, and Jeonghan shakes his head, not willing to drag on this conversation any longer.

  
  


“No.” It’s okay. A white lie never hurt anyone.

“I’m so sorry.” The kiss Minhyung presses against his forehead is so, so gentle. It hurts Jeonghan to even think about what Joshua had implied. Maybe it’d be better not to tell Minhyung, but…

“Minhyung? Promise me not to get angry.” He says, and Minhyung freezes “Please?”   
  


“I… yes…” 

“Joshua was worried that you were,” He has to swallow, his throat is suddenly too dry to speak. “That you might be forcing me… to.. Uhm…”   
  


“That I was forcing myself on you?” Minhyung’s fingers dig into his waist, holding him in place. Anger radiates from Minhyung, but his voice is deceptively calm. “I see. And what did you say?”

“That you’d never do that.”   
  


The kiss against his cheek burns.

“I love you.” Minhyung tells him seriously. “But your friends are trying to tear us apart. Promise me you won’t let that happen?”

  
  


~~

  
  


The windchimes outside the small cafe tinkle in the wind. The sound is charming, but so very nostalgic. It reminds Jeonghan of summers spent at his grandfather's place, when he'd run around the garden with his sister until the sun went down. He wonders what the garden looks like now, if the chimes still hang on the terrace and the jasmine is still buzzing with bees.

“Here you go!” The waitress chirps as she sets down coffee and cake in front of him. As expected from Madame Chou's, the smell alone is enough to make his mouth water.

“Do I need to be jealous of the cake?” Minhyung asks across from him, affection clear in his eyes as he stares at Jeonghan.

“Absolutely.” The cake is so fluffy that Jeonghan wants to lay down in it. Strawberries line up along the sides, and Jeonghan is utterly in love with their perfect red colour. “But if you try to take it from me, I'll fight you.”

Laughing, Minhyung raises his hands in defense. His own cake, just as fluffy as Jeonghan's but full of cherries instead, sits in front of him.

“The horror.” Minhyung says, taking a fork full of his own cake, and closing his eyes in bliss. “Okay, yeah. I'd fight someone for this.”

“Told you the fruit cakes are the best.” Jeonghan says, taking a sip from his coffee. The strawberry cake is by far superior to the cherry one, but Minhyung insists on cherry over strawberry.

His loss.

“And you were right.” Minhyung agrees with him, watching as Jeonghan eats a bit of his own cake, and licks his lips.

“Of course I was.”

It's nice to be able to go out and enjoy a quiet date, Jeonghan muses, watching as Minhyung systematically eats his cake – each bit seemingly needs to have at least one piece of cherry. It's cute how focused Minhyung is on eating the cake. Even though they had visited Madame Chou's quite often in the beginning, their visits had slowly dwindled as Minhyung took him to different spots, always eager to please. And perhaps the fact that Seungcheol had waited at Madame Chou's a few times in hopes of talking to Jeonghan had contributed to their search for different cafes.

“Sweetheart? What are you thinking about?”

“Hm? Oh. I just realized how long it's been since we've last been here.” Jeonghan says, poking at his cake. “We used to come here a lot more often.”

“Yeah, we did.” There's a strange glint in Minhyung's eyes. “But I can bring home more cake from Madame Chou's on Mondays, if you want.”

Of course he wants cake.

  
  


“Jeonghan?” Minhyung's grip on his hand tightens as Jeonghan turns around to look at whoever is calling him. With hasty steps Joshua is walking up towards them, panting when he reaches them. “Hi Hannie! Hi Minhyung...”

“Hi...” Minhyung's voice is cold, but polite, and his grip on Jeonghan's hand doesn't let up for a second. For a short moment, Jeonghan is reminded of how Minhyung believes that Joshua is trying to tear them apart, so he gives Minhyung's hand a reassuring squeeze.

“Can I talk to you for a sec?” Joshua asks, staring at their joined hands. “Alone?”

“Why alone?” Minhyung asks Joshua immediately, and the smile on Joshua's face becomes stiff.

“It's okay.” Jeonghan tells them when Minhyung doesn't let go of his hand. “What's up?”

Something flits across Joshua's face, but he seems to quickly catch himself.

“I was just wondering,” He begins, briefly glancing at Minhyung. “Why you haven't been responding to my messages?”

Messages?

“He probably just forgot.” Minhyung comes to his defense. “He's been very busy.”

“Jeonghan?” Joshua pointedly ignores Minhyung's interruption.

“I'm sorry.” Jeonghan says, wracking his memory for a message from Joshua. “I think I forgot to reply. I'm going to check my phone later.”

Joshua looks like he wants to say something, but Minhyung pulls Jeonghan closer to him.

“Look, we're on a date. He'll get back to you tomorrow.” Minhyung bites out, pulling Jeonghan behind him, leaving him to give a short goodbye to Joshua.

“Minhyung.” He tries, but Minhyung ignores him, all but dragging Jeonghan behind him to his apartment. “Minhyung!”

It isn't until they're inside the apartment that Minhyung turns to look at him. His eyes are wide, frantic even, clearly upset by something.

“I'm sorry.” Minhyung stutters, reaching out to tug Jeonghan into an embrace. “I'm so sorry. I just... he... every time I see him... I remember what he told you... what he implied. And it just makes me so mad.”

The hug tightens as Minhyung buries his head against Jeonghan's neck. It's almost painful, but Minhyung is upset, so Jeonghan decides to bear with it.

“It's okay.” Carefully, he strokes Minhyung's hair, holding back a sigh of relief when his grip loosens just a little bit. “I understand.”

“I'm sorry.” Minhyung's voice is so very small.

“It's okay.”

  
  


~~

  
  


A newborn calf possesses more grace than him. The long hours of double-checking transcripts in an uncomfortable position are getting to him. His legs are stiff and his shoulders hurt from the tension. A nice long soak will cure the worst of it, but it's no long term fix.

The house is dark and quiet when he arrives. His parents are still with his grandmother, and will stay for another couple of days. His sister left a note pinned to the fridge, saying that she'll be staying with a friend for a while, and that he has the house to himself. It's odd how much of a relief it is to spend some time alone.

Every day he's surrounded by people constantly wanting his attention. Now he has some time to himself.

The coffee maker sits tempting on the counter. It's already past eight and he shouldn't be drinking anymore coffee. But if he stays up for a little bit longer then he can probably finish the research paper, and then have another two weeks for editing left. And there's no one here to judge him if he drinks some more coffee and takes a midnight bath.

Temptation wins.

The coffee maker gurgles happily while Jeonghan picks out his favourite mug. It's quite big, but there is no such thing as too much coffee, especially with a nice shot of chocolate syrup. On his way to his room, mug cradled protectively to his chest, he picks up what his sister has labeled an alibi apple. One piece of fruit to pretend that he's leading a healthy life.

As much as he likes Minhyung's apartment, there's nothing like coming home and staying at his own place. His couch is still in the same sorry state as it was when he left in the morning, covered in papers and pillows pushed to the floor. Even in this state it's the most inviting thing in this room right now. So he picks the only open spot, the same as this morning, and sits down.

As if on cue, his phone pings.

'Hi babe. Are you coming over tonight?'

'Sorry. I'm home alone and got some time to write.' he types back, taking a nice, long sip of his coffee.

'Aw, okay. You can always write at my place, if you want. I could keep you company.' Minhyung replies after seconds.

'Thanks, but I need to get some work done. I'll see you tomorrow!'

'Am I that much of a distraction? Anyway, don't over do it! Give me a call, if you need me. Love you!' comes Minhyung's reply, and Jeonghan feels just the slightest bit of guilt in the face of Minhyung's eagerness.

'I will. See you!' Jeonghan sends back with a kissy face selca.

When there is no more reply, he grabs his laptop and some of the notes he left behind in the morning. The apple by his side is quickly forgotten as he dives into his work.

  
  


It's almost midnight when he sinks into the bathtub. The water is nice and hot, and feels like balm on his stiff muscles. He'd kill for a nice massage, but the bath is a great plan B. His eyelids feel very heavy, and he hurries to wash his hair before settling back into the water. He knows that dozing off usually ends with him waking up in cold water, and might lead to a nasty cough. But he's going to rest his eyes for a couple of minutes. Just a few.

When he wakes up the water is cold. He should have known better, he thinks, as he fumbles for a towel. At least he's home alone and no one gets to witness him being a functioning student. Somehow, he manages to change into his pajamas and drag his heavy limbs into bed.

  
  


It's not even light outside when he wakes up with his heart beating in his throat. He's not sure what woke him up or why his heart is beating so fast. Did he have a nightmare he can't recall? It wouldn't be the first time, but something feels off. Disconcerting somehow. But he can't put his finger on it.

It's early and if he manages to fall back asleep, he can make it to brunch with Mingyu and Wonwoo without rushing. So he turns back around, cuddling under the covers and willing himself to go back to sleep again. Just when he's about to sink back into his dreams, he startles awake again.

The stairs are creaking.

“Byeol? Is that you?” He calls out for his sister. There's no way that his parents are back, but if Byeol got into another argument with her friend, she'd come home early. It wouldn't be the first time.

The creaking stops. There's no reply.

“Byeol?” he tries again, suddenly wide-awake. Even if Byeol didn't mean to wake him, she'd at least let him now that it's her.

Once again, there's no reply.

Quietly he sits up and tries to turn on the lamp on his nightstand. Despite switching on the button, the room remains dark. He searches for his phone, but his fingers only find an empty spot where his phone should be.

Had someone been in his room while he'd been sleeping?

“Hello? Is anyone there?” He asks. His horror movie knowledge tells him to shut up and hide. For some inexplicable reason, he can't.

When there's no reply, he gathers his courage and gets up. He's just overworked and tired. Surely he's imagining things.

On his tiptoes he makes his way to the door, silently closing his fingers around the handle. Taking a deep breath, he yanks on the handle, and nothing.

The door won't budge.

No. It's not locked. It can't be. He never locks the door.

He tries the handle again.

Nothing.

The air is getting thinner by the minute and he has to calm down. He has to. Taking steadying breaths, he presses his ear against the wall. There's not a single sound. The house is utterly quiet. Slowly he crouches down to peek through the keyhole, but it's too dark to see anything.

Then, he can hear someone breathing in front of his door.

Running a hand through his hair, he tries to figure out what is happening. He is locked in his room. He can't find his phone. Someone is in the house with him.

Someone is in the house with him. What if they just leave? What if they just keep the door locked?

His parents won't be back for another few days, and his sister never said when she'd be back either.

He needs to find his phone. He needs to get out.

What if the intruder is still outside? What if Jeonghan runs into him?

Doesn't matter. He has to get out.

  
  


With clumsy fingers he sweeps the area around his nightstand for his phone.

The stairs creak again.

Jeonghan holds his breath, listening, waiting for something to happen.

Then realization sets in. The intruder is leaving. They are leaving him behind.

The door is locked.

Liquid is starting to fill his lungs, and nausea wrecks his body.

In a mad dash he hits the door, tugging at the handle, slamming his hands against the wood, but nothing happens.

He's trapped.

It's so dark. He can feel cold hands crawling along his arms. With every breath he tries to take, what little air remains in his lungs come rushing out. His limbs burn with the effort to keep him upright. Tears start running down his cheeks.

He can't get out.

He's going to die here.

The window! He can get out through the window.

But the window is so far away, and there's no air. He can't see anything. His lungs hurt. His limbs are on fire as he crawls towards the window. He can't breathe. There's smoke all around him.

And then nothing.

  
  


His heart is beating in his throat when he startles awake. The covers feel suffocating and too tight around his body. His skin feels clammy and gross. His memory is fuzzy, and the oppressive air in his room sparks a headache behind his eyes.

The intruder!

His knees buckle as he gets out of bed and he hits the floor. Bile rises in his throat. Don't panic, he tells himself, no matter what happens, do not panic.

Somehow, he makes it to the door. His hands shake so badly that he struggles to grab the handle. Taking a deep breath, he pushed the handle down.

The door opens.

A nightmare. The entire thing had been a nightmare.

Relief washes over him and lets out a cry, sounding more animal than human in his own ears. Ugly sobs leave his mouth as he stumbles back to bed.

It had felt too real.

The light turns on when he presses the switch, but he can't find comfort in the sudden brightness. No matter how long he lays in bed, curled up in his blankets, he can't calm down. Terror sits heavy in his bones.

His phone is on his nightstand. His alarm shows that it's four am.

Chewing on his lip, he dials the familiar number.

“Hello? Babe?” comes Minhyung's groggy voice after the second ring.

His throat feels tight. He shouldn't have woken Minhyung. But he's so glad to hear his voice.

“Jeonghan? Sweetheart?” He should reply, but his voice won't listen to him. “Are you okay?”

A sob leaves his lips before he can hold it back.

“I'm coming.” There's rustling on the other end. Minhyung must be getting out of bed.

“I had a nightmare.” Jeonghan manages to force out. Immediately, he feels like a small child again. “I'm sorry.”

There's a short pause then more rustling.

“I'm on my way.”

“Thank you.” Jeonghan whispers. “Can you stay on the phone with me?”

“Of course.” Minhyung replies. “Do you want to tell me what the dream was about?”

Haltingly Jeonghan tells Minhyung about his nightmare. How real it felt, how he's still not certain that it's just a nightmare.

“I'm almost there.” Minhyung tells him. “Open the door.”

He can do it. With his phone tightly clutched in his hand and Minhyung's voice in his ear, he makes his way downstairs, still not completely convinced that he's alone. When he pushes the front door open and Minhyung stands in front of him, hair mussed and pajamas showing under his coat, his composure cracks, and he throws himself in Minhyung's arms. Minhyung gently holds him, whispering reassurances, until he's calmed down enough to let Minhyung inside.

“Oh, baby.” Minhyung sounds so upset when he catches sight of him in the light of the hallway. He has no idea what he looks like, but judging by Minhyung's face, not very good.

“Can you check the house with me?” Jeonghan tugs on the sleeve of Minhyung's coat, leading him deeper into the house. “Please?”

To his credit Minyhung doesn't complain or anything, accompanying Jeonghan around the house and checking every single room. Once they cleared the room downstairs, they do a quick sweep upstairs. It feels strange to enter his parents' and sister's rooms while they are away, but for the sake of his sanity, the need to check them. When they find nothing, no one, Jeonghan heaves a sigh of relief. At the same time he's incredibly embarrassed that he made Minhyung come over.

“Sweetheart, come here.” Minhyung holds out his hand as he opens the door to Jeonghan's room.

The lamp on the nightstand is still lit, and illuminates the chaos that Jeonghan left behind. His notes are on the sofa and cluttering the floor in front of it, the covers are hanging halfway off the bed in a tangled mess. But Minhyung doesn't mention it, instead guiding Jeonghan to sit on the bed and starts untangling the blankets. Afterwards, he picks up the notes from the floor.

“Huh,” he hears Minhyung mumble when he finds a small card on the floor. “Didn't even notice.”

“What is it?” Jeonghan asks, fear flaring back up again.

“My student ID.” Minhyung tells him as he slips the card into the pocket of his coat. “I must have dropped it last time I was here.”

The idea of Minhyung losing his ID and not even noticing seems suddenly hilarious to Jeonghan, so much so that he can't hold back the hysterical giggles that bubble up his throat.

Sighing exaggeratedly at his antics, Minhyung sits down next to him, and wraps one arm around his shoulders. Still shaking with giggles, Jeonghan tucks himself against Minhyung's side, willing the giggles to subside. It takes a few more minutes for the giggles to cease, and he can breathe again.

When the reality of the situation sets in, his stomach turns.

“I'm so sorry you had to come.” His voice is small, unsure of what he should say. “The door... the door was locked. In the nightmare, I mean. I couldn't get out. And I... I couldn't...”

“It's fine.” Minhyung shushes him, pressing a tender kiss against Jeonghan's temple. “You can call me any time. I'll always be there for you.”

It should make him feel happy, but instead he feels guilty.

“I'm sorry.” Jeonghan repeats. “It was so long ago, and I just can't get over it.”

“It's not your fault.” Minhyung reassures him, petting his hair softly. “I told you, it's okay. I'm here for you.”

“It's stupid.” Jeonghan mumbles to himself. As much as he appreciates Minhyung, he's embarrassed by how distraught he got over a simple nightmare. Joshua seeing him like this, he could handle. Even... even Seungcheol. Since they both know his history. But Minhyung? He's not sure how Minhyung will react if he ever learns the truth. He's already overprotective enough as it is. “I shouldn't be so hung up about it. I just... “

Suddenly, Minhyung stands up, dragging Jeonghan with him.

“You're not staying here.” Minhyung says. “We're going to my place, and you'll stay there until someone else comes back.”

He shouldn't. But he still lets Minhyung lead him out of the room.

“Okay. Thank you.”

  
  


~~

  
  


A loud yawn escapes his lips before he can catch himself. The stare he receives from professor Kwon in return makes him flush with embarrassment. A quick glance to the clock hanging above professor Kwon shows that it's only six in the evening.

“Am I boring you?” Professor Kwon asks dryly, pausing his speech to look at Jeonghan.

“No, sir. I'm sorry.” Jeonghan replies, fingers still flying over the keyboard to type down professor Kwon's last sentence. “I probably just need some coffee.”

“If you don't feel up to it, we can continue tomorrow morning.” Professor Kwon says, and as tempting as the offer is, Jeonghan has classes in the morning. Even though they're not as important as professor Kwon's class, he'd rather not miss them and fall behind.

“I'm fine.” Jeonghan reassures him, fighting back another yawn. He can handle another hour or two.

Nodding to himself, professor Kwon falls right back into his speech, leaving Jeonghan to hastily write down his professor's words.

  
  


When professor Kwon finally dismisses him, it's once again getting dark outside. His fingers ache from typing so much, and he wants to curl up in bed right away. Earlier Minhyung sent a message about preparing dinner, and Jeonghan is grateful that he doesn't have to go back to his empty house, but can stay with Minhyung.

Out of the corner of his eye, he can see someone approaching him. Sending a silent prayer to whatever deity will listen that it's not professor Kwon with last minute work, he stops and waits for the person.

“Hey Han.” Joshua greets him. “I was hoping I'd catch you. Do you have a moment?”

Something is wrong. Joshua's posture is stiff and his smile looks forced.

“What's wrong?” Jeonghan wants to know, checking his friend for visible injuries. “Did something happen?”

“Can I talk to you?” Joshua asks instead, gently grabbing Jeonghan's hand and pulling him into an abandoned study room. He quickly fumbles with his phone before turning to look at Jeonghan.

“Joshuji, what's going on?” His stomach sinks at the serious look on his friend's face. “Are you okay?”

“I'm okay.” Joshua reassures him, sitting down on one of the worn-down couches, and motioning for Jeonghan to do the same.

The sinking feeling gets worse when Joshua grabs his hand as soon as he sits down. He needs to know what's going on, but his tongue doesn't want to listen to him, so they sit in silence as Joshua stares at him.

“Hannie,” Joshua's voice is so, so soft, and Jeonghan has the weirdest sense of deja vu. “Are you okay?”

“I'm fine.” Jeonghan is quick to reassure his friend. His health hasn't been the best, and he's sure his entire group of friends already knows, but he's got it under control.

There's a beat and Joshua's grip on his hand tightens. Of course Joshua doesn't believe him.

“Hannie,” Joshua's tone makes his heart beat much faster, but he can't figure out why. “I... we're worried about you. You've been working too hard. You even passed out a few times.” Figures that everyone knows. “And half the time I see you coming out of professor Kwon's office you look like death warmed over.”

“I'm okay!” Jeonghan insists with a smile, but drops it once he realizes that Joshua still doesn't believe him.

They sit in silence for a while. There's something obviously bothering Joshua, but Jeonghan doesn't want to pressure him. So he sits besides his best friend and waits.

“Jeonghan,” A shiver runs down Jeonghan's spine. “Do you remember when I told you I'd look into Seungcheol's messages?”

Or lack thereof.

“Of course.” The room seems smaller than before. But that's probably because he's scared that he really is crazy and Seungcheol was right all along, he reasons, holding tightly onto Joshua's hand.

“So, I did look into it.” Joshua says. “I'll tell you everything. But you have to promise to listen til the end.”

“I promise.” He needs to know that he's not crazy.

“Okay.” Joshua's free hand fiddles with his phone. “I asked Seungcheol to show me his, and there really are a ton of messages he sent to you.”

He's crazy. It really does run in the family. His throat is tight as he tries to pull his hand out of Joshua's grip.

“Wait! Hannie, please.” His best friend reads him like an open book. “You're not crazy! I swear you're not!”

Suddenly the door opens, and the person Jeonghan has been doing his best to avoid steps inside.

His hair has become long, Jeonghan notices, lazy curls brushing against his ears.

“Seungcheol...” What is he supposed to say? He's still angry, still hurt. Still misses Seungcheol more than he should.

“Jeonghan.” His usually confident voice sounds so insecure, and he stands by the door for a few moments before he straightens up and walks towards them. “I'm sorry. What I said was wrong. Nothing justifies what I said, but please, please listen to me.”

He wants to walk away. He wants to yell at Seungcheol until he's blue in the face. He wants to hear every tiny detail of Seungcheol's explanation.

“Okay.”That doesn't sound like his voice at all. Seungcheol seems relieved, but Jeonghan can't grasp why. If he's not crazy then Seungcheol must have been ignoring him.

“I.. when you said I'd been ignoring you, I got angry and out of control, and for that I apologize.” It feels rehearsed, but just this once Jeonghan is going to let it slide. “After... after a while I started wondering what happened, because I sent you a text every single time. I promise, I'd never ditch you!”

But you did, the petty part of him wants to argue.

“So I double-checked my phone bills, sns, any app we ever used. I contacted every admin I could reach, and got all of my history.” Seungcheol's hands shake as he hands several papers to Jeonghan. “All messages are there. I promise I'd never leave you like that! I even asked Minhyung to let you know...”

Joshua is saying something, but Jeonghan can't hear it. It sounds like he's underwater. Numbers and dates blur on the papers in front of him. It's all there. Seungcheol didn't lie.

He really is crazy.

“Han! Jeonghan!” Strong hands grasp his face, tilting it up to look at Seungcheol. “Breathe!”

Oh. He blinks back a few tears, and struggles to take deep breaths.

“I'm sorry.” Seungcheol says, looking very upset. “I didn't mean... I didn't want to make you feel bad.”

“It's not your fault.” Jeonghan somehow gets out. “I'm...”

“You're not crazy.” Joshua interrupts. Both Jeonghan and Seungcheol turn to look at him in unison. “Look, I know what I say is really going to sound like I'm the crazy one here, but listen to me, okay?”

“Okay.” Jeonghan hates how fragile he sounds, and has to stop himself from reaching out for Seungcheol when he withdraws his hands.

“We, and by that I mean all of us,” Joshua begins, stroking the back of Jeonghan's hand with his thumb. “Noticed that you barely ever reply to our messages anymore,” Jeonghan's head snaps up, confused by the messages everyone keeps mentioning. “And then you didn't even know that you got them.”

“But I didn't.” He double-checked. Ever since Wonwoo told him that he hadn't been responding, Jeonghan always, always makes sure to double-check his phone. Just to be sure.

“I believe you.” Joshua quickly reassures him. “But...”

The pause is killing Jeonghan, and it looks like Seungcheol isn't faring much better.

“Does Minhyung have access to your phone?”

“What?”

“Does Minhyung have access to your phone?” Joshua repeats, and Jeonghan feels sick.

“Yeah. But he doesn't know the passcode.” Jeonghan admits, not liking what Joshua is implying.

“Are you sure?” Seungcheol suddenly asks, and Jeonghan wants to snap at him. Why are they suddenly trying to corner him like this?

“Hannie,” Joshua says. “Ever since you started dating Minhyung you stopped responding to us. You're spending less and less time with us. And when you do, you look awful and exhausted.”

“I...” Words fail him again.

“He's isolating you.” Joshua continues, and Jeonghan wants to throw up.

“What? No!” Vehemently shaking his head, Jeonghan tries to stand up, but Seungcheol is in front of him, looking like he'd stop him, if Jeonghan tried to leave.

“Jeonghan, that one time you showed up at the cafe you sounded awful.” Joshua says. “I know you said that it was consensual, but are you sure?”

He can't hold it back anymore. Brushing past Seungcheol, Jeonghan makes a dash to the trash bin. He reaches it just in time to throw up whatever is left of his lunch.

When he's done, Seungcheol gently helps him up and leads him back to the couch, where Joshua is already uncapping a bottle of water. They watch as he takes a few sips.

“I'm sorry.” Joshua says, brushing back a sweaty strand of hair from Jeonghan's face. “I'm sorry, Hannie. We're all so worried.”

“He thinks you hate him.” Jeonghan says, not looking at Seungcheol or Joshua. “That you're trying to tear us apart.”

He's met with silence.

“Look, I.. I don't like him. I don't trust him either.” Joshua says, and Seungcheol nods. “But, if I knew that he wasn't a bad guy, I could deal with him dating you. But Jeonghan, he's not good for you. Please trust us.”

Gods, does he want to. But Minhyung has been kind to him. He'd never hurt him on purpose. Never. He just wouldn’t. Right?

“I...” Taking a deep breath, Jeonghan sits up. “I appreciate your concern. I do, but it's fine.”

Both of them look so disappointed that it hurts.

“I'm going to ask him about the messages and then we'll talk again.” Jeonghan says firmly. He has to be strong, has to show them that he's fine. He's in control. “There has to be a logical explanation.”

“Hannie,” Seungcheol begins, and Jeonghan shoots him a glare. “Jeonghan, are you sure?”

“Of course.”

He's not, but neither of them need to know.

The lights in Minhyung's apartment are bright, too bright for his sore eyes. Behind the door Minhyung is humming, and the smell of ramyeon wafts through to the entrance.

“Minhyung?” He doesn't want to do this. They can't be right.

“Hi sweetheart!” Minhyung greets him, pulling him into a kiss. “Dinner will be done soon.”

He wants to be cheerful, let himself be soothed by Minhyung's presence, and ignore all the doubts that are bubbling up inside him.

“Sounds great.” Jeonghan says, pulling off his shoes.

“Is everything okay?” Minhyung asks, helping Jeonghan store his shoes and carrying his bag inside. “You look exhausted.”

“It's fine.” He feels like a broken machine caught in a loop. Fine, fine, fine. First Seungcheol and Joshua, now Minhyung.

“Something is wrong.” Minhyung immediately says, ushering Jeonghan into the kitchen. “Sit down. I'll make you some tea.”

“I'm fine.” Jeonghan repeats, but sits down at the table anyway.

“Don't lie to me, please.” Minhyung says.

“I... I met up with Joshua and Seungcheol.” Jeonghan says, watching as Minhyung freezes. His hands stop their movements, and his back becomes stiff. All of a sudden the atmosphere in the room changes.

“Did you?” Minhyung's voice is deceptively soft, and he empties out the mug of green tea. “That must have been stressful. Seeing Seungcheol again.”

“Actually, there's something I want to talk with you about.” Jeonghan says, playing with the hem of his shirt. Minhyung hums as he refills the cup, and the soothing scent of chamomile fills the kitchen.

“What is it?” With a cautious smile, Minhyung sets the cup in front of Jeonghan, watching as Jeonghan takes a few sips.

“They... about Seungcheol's messages.” No matter how he phrases this, Minhyung will get hurt. Either by the assumptions or by Jeonghan's distrust. “They brought proof that Seuncheol actually did send them.”

“Did he now?” Minhyung's voice hasn't changed, but the tension in the room is thick.

“Yeah. Minhyung...” Taking a deep breath, he looks into Minhyung's eyes. “They implied that you tampered with my phone, and that you deliberately didn't pass Seungcheol's messages on to me.”

The silence is deafening.

“You didn't... You wouldn't.” His throat is dry.

“Babe, please. I know you're angry,” Minhyung begins, and something cold, slimy settles in Jeonghan's stomach. It can't be true. “He did ask me to let you know. But that was after your fight! And you didn't want to see him!”

“That wasn't for you to decide!” Jeonghan snaps back. “You should have told me! We could have made things right. All of this is just a misunderstanding.”

“Really? And then what? You'd have left me!” Minhyung scoffs. “He's always hated me. He's not good for you. He only uses you! He doesn't love you like I do!”

“... you can't be serious.” Jeonghan whispers, shaking his head softly. What happened to Minhyung? “What about the messages? Did you really...?”

“I'm sorry, babe.” Minhyung raises his hands placatingly, walking over to Jeonghan as if he's some spooked animal. “I know it's difficult to understand. I just wanted to help you.”

“Help me? How? By making things worse?” Jeonghan wants to know. The tea cup in his hand creaks ominously as he clenches his fingers around it. The scent of chamomile does nothing to soothe his nerves. There's a headache pounding behind his eyes, and he wants nothing more than to wake up.

“No!” Minhyung grabs his arms so very gently, so different from his tone. With a certain amount of apathy Jeonghan watches the tea cup slip from his hand and shatter on the floor. “No, I'm sorry. I was jealous. And stupid. But I never meant to make things worse! I just wanted you to be happy! And Seungcheol had upset you so much...”

Had he really come across like that? Had his behavior caused Minhyung to hide things from him or was he blatantly lying? He struggles to focus on when things with Seungcheol started to become weird. Had it been before he started tutoring Minhyung? After?

The stabbing pain in his head makes it hard to concentrate. He can feel the familiar onset of a sudden fainting spell; the dizziness makes it impossible to focus on Minhyung, and his stomach clenches ominously.

“Hannie? Babe?” Things had been great at the beginning of the year. How did he lose his Seungcheol? What went wrong?

Through the encroaching darkness, he can see Minhyung's worried face. Strong arms catch him as his knees give in and he sags against Minhyung. He's so tired.

“Sh! I got you.” Minhyung's voice whispers in his ear, soothing as always.

  
  
  


There's an odd drilling sound. When he tries to sit up with a groan, Minhyung rushes to him.

“Here, drink this.” Minhyung orders, lifting a cup of tea to Jeonghan's lips and he obediently follows his order. The world is cotton, everything is numb and muffled. The soft silky feeling of the sheets under his fingers give away that Minhyung has taken him away to the bedroom.

“It's okay.” Minhyung settles next to him and pulls him against his chest. Soft fingers stroke his hair as Jeonghan struggles to remember what happened. “Just rest.”

His eyelids are so heavy. His limbs don't feel like his own anymore. Everything is so wrong. But he's so tired. An odd sense of deja-vu fills him.

“Sh! I got you.” Minhyung whispers in his ear, soothing as always, but feels so wrong. The hand in his hair feels so nice, and Minhyung's voice murmurs sweet nothings.

He distantly remembers that he should be angry, but he can't remember why.

It's so cozy.

  
  


When he wakes up the second time, Minhyung isn't with him. He can hear him bustling around in the kitchen, humming a song. For a moment, everything is alright. Minhyung meant no harm, and it was all a misunderstanding. That can be fixed. Everything is going to be okay. He'll talk to Seungcheol. And Minhyung.

Something hard is wrapped around his bare ankle. Throwing back the covers he freezes when he sees an iron ring wrapped around his ankle with a chain attached to it.

He's having another nightmare. There is no other explanation.

Tentatively he reaches out, touching the cold metal. It feels so real under his fingers, cold and unyielding. He grips the chain and follows it back to where it's been bolted to the floor. The air is suddenly thin in the small bedroom.

No. It's a nightmare. Stay calm.

The chain is long enough to reach the door. With shaking hands he pushed down the handle.

Locked. Okay, he can handle this. Just a nightmare.

His eyes frantically search for an exit. The window. But just as he feared, it has been bolted shut. The glass has been reinforced and the walls are soundproof. Minhyung had mischievously told him that the previous tenant had received complaints for his very loud love life and that the landlord made sure everything would be quiet in the future.

There is no escape.

It's just a nightmare. With shaking limbs he crawls back under the covers. He'll wake up any moment now.

Outside footsteps are closing in. There's a clicking sound, then another; followed by the sound of a key being turned, and finally a rattling sound as if something heavy had been moved.

He wonders what kind of face the monster will wear. Halmeoni? Seungcheol? The possibilities are endless.

“Hey, my love. How are you feeling?” Minhyung's smile is bright as he walks over to the bed. A tray of food is precariously balanced in his arms. “You must have been exhausted.”

It can't be real.

“Minhyung?” He hates how his voice shakes, yet Minhyung's smile hasn't changed. “What's going on?”

Not real.

“You fainted.” Minhyung explains as he puts the tray down on the nightstand, as if the chain around Jeonghan's foot is an everyday occurrence. “So I took you to bed.”

“What?” He feels like he's going to pass out again.

“Meeting Seungcheol must have been rough on you.” Slowly and steadily Minhyung reaches out to stroke Jeonghan's hair. Despite his best efforts, Jeonghan can't quite suppress his flinch, and Minhyung's expression turns dark. “After everything... You'd leave me for him. He just waltzes back in. And you trust him over me? After everything I have done for you?”

“What do you mean?” Blood is pounding in his ears. He doesn't want to know.

“Come here.” Minhyung opens his arms, obviously expecting him to cuddle up to Minhyung. When Jeonghan doesn't even move, Minhyung easily pulls him into his lap, holding him in a vice-like grip. His limbs are still weak and shaky, and attempting to free himself will be useless. “Why did he have to ruin everything?”

“What?” What did you do? Who are you even?

“Sh! It's okay.” The lips pressing against his temple used to make him feel loved. Now, they terrify him. “I'll explain. I promise it'll be okay.”

Nothing will ever be okay again. That much he knows as he listens to Minhyung's proud story of how he arranged their study sessions, how he broke his phone, all the deleted messages and times he supported Jeonghan when Seungcheol had been 'leering at him, attempting to taint Jeonghan'. With every word his horror grows. They had been right. Seungcheol had never abandoned him. It'd all been Minhyung's doing.

“I did everything for you.” Minhyung claims, eyes fever-bright and terrifying. His arms around Jeonghan feel more like shackles than the ring around his foot does. “It'll be okay. You'll realize that I'm right. I'm the only one who really loves you.”

“No!” With a burst of anger and desperation Jeonghan pushes Minhyung away and stumbles towards the door. “You're crazy!”

He hears the slap before the stinging pain starts. His trembling legs give in and he falls to the ground. This time Minhyung doesn't catch him, instead towering over him with a disappointed look. Then slowly and gently he pulls Jeonghan up and helps him in his shell-shocked daze onto the bed.

Blood is rushing through his ears and his heart feels like it's going to jump out of his chest.

None of that seems to matter to Minhyung as he picks up the teacup from the tray and holds it towards Jeonghan.

“Drink.”

Irritation flares under his skin and he slaps the cup out of Minhyung's hands, spilling tea all over him.

For a second he's scared that Minhyung will hit him again, but instead reaches into his back pocket and pulls out a small glass vial.

“What is that?” He demands, hastily trying to back away. “Minhyung, what is that? What are you doing?”

He gets no response as Minhyung suddenly throws himself on top of Jeonghan, knocking the wind out of him. Black spots dance before his vision when he feels a thumb wedge itself between his teeth, prying his mouth open. The familiar taste of chamomile fills his mouth and the hand moves to clamp his mouth shut.

“Sh! It's okay. It's okay.” Minhyung shushes him, using his own body weight to subdue Jeonghan's weak struggles and press him into the mattress. “It's for your own good.”

The pounding headache is back and his limbs are not his anymore. It feels so familiar, but it doesn't make any sense. He wants to ask Minhyung what he gave him, but his hand is still firmly holding Jeonghan's mouth shut.

“It's okay. You're safe here.”

The last thing Jeonghan registers before he passes out is Minhyung's lips against his.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Brownie points for those who know the movie that they were watching

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks to the amazing Eottoghe for taking a first look! I'm so grateful for your support.
> 
> Not discontinued just slow progress


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